Three months ago, Ocean Gate was abuzz with excitement as it prepared to celebrate a windmill, which local officials said would lower the electric bills at the municipal building. But shortly after the switch was turned on, problems began. Residents living on three sides of the turbine began to complain about the noise - a constant metallic drone - as well as light reflecting off the rotors. With the prospect of another 50-kilowatt windmill being built in the next year, the complaints have gotten louder.

The Chesterfield-based company forced a public inquiry after Cherwell councillors unanimously voted against plans to build a £10m wind farm on land at Willowbank Farm, just south of the M40, last April. And yesterday residents took turns to tell planning inspector John Watson why he should throw out the appeal.

Campaigners have called for a national debate about wind farms ahead of the General Election, during a conference in the North-East. Experts from a range of disciplines issued a number of warnings against wind farms at WindConf Conference 2010, which was held on Saturday. ...Dr Chris Hanning, a retired NHS sleep disorder specialist, said turbines should not be built within 2km of homes.

Assemblyman Will Barclay (R,C,I-Pulaski) said today too many questions remain unanswered for windmills to be allowed to be built along the Lake Ontario shoreline. The New York Power Authority announced in December 2009 it is accepting requests for proposals (RFPs) from prospective wind mill companies to construct wind turbines along Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The period for proposals to be accepted will come to a close in March.

Some downright vituperative comment on the proposed Antelope Ridge Wind Farm highlighted a meeting of the Union County Board of Commissioners last Tuesday. Telocaset resident Rod Swanson, long disgruntled over the presence of Elkhorn Valley Wind Farm turbines near his home, unleashed a loud, obscenity-laced tirade at the three-member board.

The cottages around Askam wind farm occupy the perfect spot, looking out to sea over to the isle of Man and inland to the Lake District. The only problem is the noise. The seven turbines have sparked the most complaints about wind farms in the country. Residents complain of a noise like someone is "mixing cement in the sky" or a "clog is stuck in the tumble dryer" and they are not the only ones.

There was no dead air in the packed Huron County Circuit Court Room Wednesday as local residents and officials heard a presentation regarding findings from the Michigan Wind I noise study. During the Huron County Planning Commission's Feb. 3 meeting, John Deere Wind Energy officials presented the findings from the sound study, which found while the majority of the Michigan Wind I development near Ubly is in compliance, three sites measured exceeded the noise limit set in the county's wind ordinance by 1 decibel.

Voters at the annual town meeting have approved two moratoriums that will give the town time to develop ordinances to regulate communications towers and wind turbines. There has been commercial interest in such construction, particularly in communications towers, according to Code Enforcement Officer Judy Jenkins, and the town’s existing land use regulations include nothing to guide the siting of such structures.

The discussion over changing the city's wind turbine laws continues. The Planning Board agreed to discuss the proposed amendments to the law at its next meeting on March 17, following a public hearing Wednesday, where abutters of the city's only turbine in the industrial park urged them to take up the review. Others urged city officials not to make setback changes based on an "arbitrary" number and to use data to support any amendments.

Angry householders are demanding an explanation for what they claim is "appalling" treatment at the hands of developers building a 12-turbine wind farm at Newland. Work has been started on the site at Pease Farm and Rusholme Grange by developers Wind Prospect on behalf of the French power company EDF Energy Renewables.

The Energy and Resources Minister, Peter Batchelor says the State Government is prepared to investigate fears that noise from wind turbines is causing health problems. Some residents near the Waubra wind farm, west of Ballarat say a low-frequency noise from the turbines is making them sick.

Voters in Ira are expected to weigh in tomorrow night on a controversial wind farm that's being proposed in their town. As VPR's Nina Keck reports, the nonbinding question is expected to generate a lot of debate.

Wind Concerns Meaford is holding a public meeting on Wednesday to raise awareness about wind energy concerns in the municipality and elsewhere. At least one developer has a wind testing tower in the former Sydenham Township near Balaclava. Organic farmer Nicholos Schaut is one of the evening's speakers. ...He said his family moved to get away from the effects of wind turbines that were located too close to the family home and a nearby potential aggregate development proposal.

"They stole our peace with a smile on their faces," says Judy. Hal has been speaking out about the unexpected noise problems from the newly erected turbines for a year now. The sound has been described as that of a jet engine taking off, an expressway, or the constant drone of a tractor. The Grahams say that leaseholders in Cohocton were told the sound of the turbines was likened to that of a refrigerator running, but that's not what they hear.

Scott Logan felt fortunate when he and his wife found their home in rural Goodhue County. "This is the place literally I want to die in. We've got the walking trails down here, the quality of life is great and the neighbors are great,"he said. But now Logan is worried that the home life he has come to enjoy is in jeopardy. A 75-megawatt wind development has been proposed in the area that includes 52 wind turbines.

The Flixborough Grange wind farm inquiry has heard evidence from a dad who says turbines harm his autistic sons. Trevor Glathorne spent two hours giving his evidence to the Flixborough Grange inquiry at the Kingsway Centre. He said the Bagmoor Farm turbines had already had an unforeseen impact on his twin boys Lewis and Ross, both aged eight.

While selectmen work to coordinate a timeline for the construction of two wind turbines on town-owned land in North Harwich, neighbors are fuming at what they say has been a poor effort by the town’s energy committee to work with them on a string of concerns. Terry Hayden, who lives on Headwaters Drive, read a polite but forceful statement to the board during Monday night and then debated the merits of the project.

The developer of a proposed wind farm on White Mountain has scaled back the probable number of wind turbines in favor of a larger turbine size for the project. If fully built, as few as 185 wind turbines could be constructed on scenic White Mountain instead of the 237 under study by federal administrators, company officials said Wednesday night during a public meeting.

Judy Mattinson expressed horror at the idea of spoiling the "sweet, peaceful viewshed" of the escarpment with wind turbines. "I can't see how you can move forward without impacting the beauty" of the area, she said. "The damage will irrevocable and unavoidable. "Anybody who has not visited the mountain in the spring and seen the wildflowers ... can't know how beautiful it is," she continued. "And it won't be that way again."

Some people living near existing wind farms say the cost is too high in addition to noise complaints, some think wind farms have an irreversible visual impact. Marilyn Roper and her husband Harry own a camp in Danforth. "It had a beautiful pristine scenery and two lakes," says Roper. The Ropers are avid star gazers and they say the Stetson 1 and 2 projects have ruined their view.