Mayor Steve Toms said the biggest issue the DCP set guidelines for was the setback distance for unrelated houses from turbines. "The two kilometres setback was a benchmark set up by other councils but certainly takes into account noise and aesthetic studies," he said. "Obviously there are rules in place but there is a certain amount of controversy with how noise affects residents. "The scale of these towers is rather higher than normal at 125 to 130 metres but we felt 2km to be a reasonable benchmark."

On week two of the hearing in Cromwell, Wellington law firm Morrison Kent, representing the group, opened its submission claiming that Meridian was failing in its duty to protect and preserve the landscape. Counsel Ian Gordon said the effects of Project Hayes were significant and adverse and the gaps in evidence made the effects even more adverse than present assessment allowed. The wind farm site is surrounded by areas already protected for their natural and/or landscape values.

"You get a more of a pulsing affect inside, bounces off the walls and it's going up and down in these frequencies that make you unsettled, probably anxious and you just want to get out of there because it's going in and out of your hearing threshold."

Theories of climate change were challenged during an Environment Court appeal hearing for Meridian Energy's proposed $2 billion Project Hayes wind farm yesterday. As a witness for appellant Roch Sullivan, climate scientist Prof Christopher de Freitas was questioned on his evidence, which had been contested in the evidence of other climate witnesses called in the hearing.

Navigators property owners have vowed to fight any move to create a new powerline easement through bushland to connect the proposed Mt Mercer wind farm to the electricity grid. West Wind Energy has planning approval for the construction of 64 turbines at Mt Mercer but to connect the wind farm to the grid, a new easement would have to be created.

... adverse noise effects and noise annoyance and irritation is set to affect residents of Makara after a similar incident, with similar circumstances to that of Makara's, forced a resident to leave his home. "One farmer at Meridian's Te Apiti wind farm has been forced to leave his homestead - some 350 metres from turbines - due to noise and vibration from the turbines. The new T3 wind turbines are causing sleep deprivation for residents 2.2km away," Ms Jorgensen said. ... the guardians are very concerned that Meridian Energy be made to comply with conditions that the Court's decision requires; these conditions are likely to require a considerable number of turbines being de-rated and turned off at times.

Draft planning guidelines for wind farms in NSW could make approval processes more complex and time-consuming, set possibly the world's strictest noise standards, and limit opportunities for placing wind turbines within 2km of a residence.

Pyrenees Shire Council will challenge the State Government that it is not responsible for enforcing Waubra Wind Farm's permit conditions. After months of negotiations, council has legal advice saying the government is the responsible authority. Council will meet with Planning Minister Justin Madden early next month, with a delegation from other regional councils that could be affected by the outcome.

In its recommendation, the agency said wind farms should not be built within two kilometres of homes, citing a "growing body of evidence" that wind farm noise could have health effects, the report added.

Wind farms can cause significant health problems for nearby residents, a draft report by specialist consultants says. The leaked report, once completed, could potentially open the door to litigation by affected residents. The finding is believed to be the first of its kind in Australia, although The Weekly Times understands a court case in the UK will also hear allegations of serious health impacts from residents near wind farms.

Wellington City Council has asked the company behind a new wind farm at Makara to report on noise issues after receiving more than 750 complaints. Meridian Energy's Project West Wind, which opened in April last year, has 62 turbines in the area around the settlement.

Considering how long wind turbines have been around, Doolan was surprised there isn't a better understanding of the effects of noise generated by wind turbines. "We don't yet understand exactly how turbulence and blade edge, or boundary layer, interact and how that makes the noise louder."

A Tamworth public inquiry into wind farms in the northern tablelands has heard the developments do not comply with local planning guidelines. The New South Wales Planning Department has bypassed local government controls to push the projects through. A number of residents told the inquiry that noise and vibrations from the turbines will force them to move if the projects go ahead in their current form.

Angry residents of Allendale East signed a petition on Monday in protest at the development of a wind farm within close range of their properties, vowing to continue to fight for an expired community consultation process on the development to be re-opened.

Residents of Waubra, west of Ballarat, have rejected a government report which found there is no proof wind farms make people sick. ...He says the council's report is baseless because the authors did not consult the residents of Waubra.

The National Health and Medical Research Council, which advises the Federal Government, found that there was no evidence that the turbines' low frequency noise or shadow flicker made people sick. But residents of Waubra in Victoria's south-west who live near the state's largest wind farm say they are sicker and they're convinced that wind turbines are to blame.

Opponents today vowed to fight the resource consent granted to Meridian Energy to build 70 super-sized wind turbines near Makara in Wellington.

A spokesman for the residents' group, Peter Russell-Clarke, says the wind farms are inefficient and will ruin the landscape. He says tourism will also be affected. "A lot of the people in the McHarg range area were putting up B&Bs well those that started have now stopped and those that we're going to apply are now not going to apply," he said.

State Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond said a future Liberal government would ban new wind turbines being located within two kilometres of existing homes. She said her government would also protect nearby landowners from economic losses caused by restrictions on aerial spraying and crop-dusting, and would help develop national guidelines on wind farm locations and noise emissions.

The federal Member for Hume, Alby Schultz, has called for changes to regulations on the construction of wind turbines.