The Environment Court has given the go-ahead for Wel Networks' Te Uku wind farm to proceed. The consent order allowing the wind farm follows the successful mediation of outstanding appeals - and the fact ardent wind farm opponent Sean Cox has withdrawn from the fray on health grounds. Mitigation measures agreed by the parties included the formation of a community liaison group, alleviation of some visual concerns, and the relocation of the controversial turbine 29 near Hidden Valley.

Jill Stull from Portage says her life and farm have turned upside down ever since some unwelcome neighbors moved in 2006. "We want the noise to stop. I want my husband to be able to sleep in our home," Stull said. The noise she's referring to is from the six turbines surrounding her 100-acre farm. At least once a week, Stull says she can hear and feel the turbines humming, and it's a sensation she says comes at irregular intervals.

Three parties appealed the granting of resource consents for the wind farm; but these have now been settled after agreement over ways to mitigate their concerns. Measures includes the setting up of a community liaison group.

New Zealand Windfarms Ltd has lodged an application to build a small wind farm on one of the highest points in the Clutha district after spending most of this year investigating the site. The Clutha District Council received the resource consent application last Friday and it appears it will not be publicly notified as the company already has permission from the only affected landowner.

The town wind law committee created to produce a zoning amendment to deal with wind farms added a sound measurement protocol and changed setbacks from roads during its meeting Thursday afternoon. The sound protocol came from recommendations from the acoustical engineering firm Cavanaugh Tocci Associates, Sudbury, Mass., based on a wind development zoning law written for the Association of Towns and rules for noise studies written by Cape Vincent resident Clifford P. Schneider.

Planners at Cannock Chase Council have had to fork out the cash for a report about the noise impact the three proposed turbines for Bleak House open cast mine site would have. The decision on the application for the site between Heath Hayes and Chase Terrace has now been delayed until next year because the noise consultants require more information from Harworth Power.

Investment firm Babcock & Brown says it is in dispute with a bank which holds a deposit of a material amount relating to the release of that deposit. Babcock requested a trading halt in its shares today, saying it expected the halt to remain until the dispute was resolved. The owner of wind farms and properties has lost 99% of its market value this year as it struggles to sell assets to repay $3.1 billion in loans.

Opponents of a proposed four-turbine wind farm in North St. Eleanors have received the support of the Medical Society of Prince Edward Island to delay the project pending a health investigation. In a letter to the city's mayor and council, long-time Summerside physician Paul Kelly made formal application to city officials that they delay the project calling for four wind turbines on the former landfill site in St. Eleanors. ..."The Medical Society of Prince Edward Island has been asked to address the issue of setback distances associated with wind turbines," he said.

Details of a wind farm on rugged hills southwest of Brooklyn have been made public. The 28-turbine proposal for Long Gully will be discussed at public meetings in Wellington this week before a resource consent application is lodged with the city council in mid-December. State-owned Mighty River Power would own and operate the farm and Windflow Technology, a Christchurch turbine manufacturer, would construct it.

Andrew Randall lives in King's Dyke, Whittlesey, with his pregnant partner Rachel Barford and one-year-old daughter Aimee, just 100 yards from the towering machine. He said the constant noise from the turning blades is causing sleepless nights and stress for Rachel, who is four months pregnant. Mr Randall (23) said: "Rachel's stressed all the time and she can't cope with the lack of sleep. I'm concerned about the health of the baby. ..."We've got a hot tub in the back garden, but it's a waste because we can't go out there, it's just too noisy."

Babcock & Brown Ltd (B&B)has sold wind farm assets held by B&B Wind Partners in Portugal for $2.23 billion. The assets were sold to a consortium of investors led by Magnum Capital. B&B said it would earn $285.82 million in net proceeds from the sale of its 50% share of the portfolio. This represents a price above book value and will be used to pay down project debt secured against European wind assets, it added.

Babcock & Brown Ltd.'s fight to avoid becoming Australia's next victim of the credit crisis may depend on convincing bankers that it can sell assets in a market where others have failed. Babcock slumped 51 percent in Sydney trading since Nov. 6, when ABN Amro Holdings NV analyst John Heagerty said the owner of wind farms and real estate may breach loan agreements next year. ...Babcock said June 16 it was "confident'' the wind assets would be sold this year -- an assumption Heagerty said may prove too optimistic. "The sale of Babcock's wind assets is likely to be postponed further given the difficulties for the acquirers in obtaining financing,'' he said.

Construction of the 35 windmills in the second phase of what will be one of Pennsylvania's largest wind farms is completed and should be in operation before the end of the year, an official with Gamesa Energy USA said. News of the anticipated startup comes as sound experts working on behalf of Portage Township completed the study setting the level of the existing - ambient - noise at and near North Allegheny Wind Farm, which is adding nine turbines to the skyline in the Blue Knob area of the township.

Wind farms are blowing land values off course, slashing property tags by up to a third in some areas and lifting others by as much $50,000 per turbine. A new study shows the presence of wind turbines significantly influence land values - but it's not all bad. The study co-incides with a new push by the Federal Government to speed up the building opf wind farms across Australia. Ballarat-based value Alan Hives said there had now been enough sales of property featuring or near wind farms to draw some conclusions of their impact on property values.

The application for the 131-turbine wind farm was lodged on August 14, and the council had expected to publicly notify the application last month. But, the process stalled after MRP applied to the Environment Minister for a ministerial call-in. That would have fast-tracked the application, because the resource consent process would be taken out of council's hands, and instead referred directly to either a board of inquiry or the Environment Court.

Wind energy is the latest rage in going green and in shifting the United States away from fossil-based energy supplies. And more wind turbines are coming to Oregon. It is even required by law. But with giant wind turbines now looming nearby, the Eaton's fear the rapid move to clean energy will come at the expense of their health. The problem is something called "Wind Turbine Syndrome."

John Jess has been valuing properties in Gippsland, Vic, since 1982 and says wind turbines are having a significant impact on values for both farmland and residential property. Having conducted valuations for a panel hearing on proposed wind farms, Mr Jess said farming properties appear to drop 10-15 pc near turbines. There is stronger evidence to suggest rural-residential values drop by 30-40pc near win turbines.

The group behind what is said to be Australia's first community-owned wind farm says the global financial crisis has affected fundraising for the project. Hepburn Wind wants to build two turbines at Leonard's Hill near Daylesford. It has spent the past three months trying to raise $5 million from investors, but it has only received share applications worth $2 million.

Not long after the wind turbines began to spin in March near Gerry Meyer's home, his son Robert, 13, and wife, Cheryl, complained of headaches. They have trouble sleeping, and Cheryl Meyer, 55, sometimes feels a fluttering in her chest. Gerry is sometimes nauseated and hears crackling. The culprit, they say, is the whooshing sound from the five industrial wind turbines near the 6-acre spread where they have lived for 37 years.

Members of the committee formed to produce a zoning amendment to deal with wind farms want specifics. During a meeting Thursday afternoon, the committee agreed to ask the acoustical engineering firm Cavanaugh Tocci Associates, Sudbury, Mass., to evaluate the noise-measuring methods in different laws. That firm panned Hessler Associates' ambient noise study in BP Alternative Energy's draft environmental impact statement for the Cape Vincent Wind Farm. "My request would be that these documents should be sent to Cavanaugh and Tocci for their review," said Richard Macsherry, Tibbetts Point.