A Devon council is calling on Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks to reverse a decision to allow a huge wind farm. Earlier this month Mr Wicks gave Devon Wind Power the go-ahead for a 22-turbine project at Fullabrook Down. ...Council leader Mike Harrison said the "landscape and people of North Devon have been sacrificed in the national interest". He added: "This is a classic example of the impact of centralised planning on a local community."

Use effects include the loss of peaceful use and enjoyment of homesteads for many turbine neighbours, and there is evi­dence that livestock has been adversely impacted by the noise from turbines, ranging from death (goats in Taiwan) to reproductive disorders (in Wis­consin) and behavioral changes and irritability of horses and cattle. Those may also repre­sent cost effects, in some cases, or other forms of financial impact.

Lechliter alleges the university obtained permits for the turbine "based on backroom negotiations with DNREC and the City (Lewes) and its public misrepresentations that the wind turbine would cause no intrusive noise and not result in diminution of property values."

The project seemed full speed ahead just months ago, before it was met with intense scrutiny from nearby residents and some city officials. Now, the UI has dropped the plan, and the move has sparked different reactions from both sides.

As the costs of a University of Illinois wind turbine increase, south Urbana residents worried how the turbine would affect their property values brought more questions to a second public meeting on Monday night. The UI offered an alternative to the primary concern raised at a first meeting in December; residents wondered if the 400-foot turbine's proposed location could be moved farther west to minimize the effects.

Unanticipated costs and unanswered questions have created the potential for a bigger price tag on the University of Illinois' wind turbine project, and officials will wait at least until March to get approval from the school's board of trustees.

The £1million wind turbine next to Whitemoor Prison is to be switched off at certain times of the year because 'shadow flicker' is upsetting inmates.

The Umatilla Planning Commission is considering a proposal to keep wind turbines out of the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon. The "No Turbine Zone" would amend the county's plan. Proponents say it was a result of secrecy about plans for the developments.

Tazewell County State's Attorney Stewart Umholtz is threatening legal action against the county itself if it ignores his advice and expands an enterprise zone to include a proposed wind farm. Umholtz sent a letter Tuesday to County Board members, saying he opposes expanding the zone to include the Rail Splitter Wind Farm near the Tazewell and Logan county line, saying it would violate state statute. "Let me make myself perfectly clear," Umholtz said in the letter. "The proposed expansion of the enterprise zone does not meet the statutory requirements and should not be approved by the County Board."

Tazewell County State's Attorney Stewart Umholtz warned Tazewell County board members Monday that he would be required to "take legal action" if the county board approves a questionable expansion of a tax-free zone for a proposed wind farm. County Chairman Jim Unsicker says that Umholtz is entitled to his opinion, but that opinion is not shared by many people. "(Umholtz's) view on the expansion of the enterprise zone is diametrically opposed to the view of a number of people on the board, the state, the city and just about anybody else you want to talk to in the state of Illinois," said Unsicker.

She claimed the UK Government and the European Union breached the UN's Aarhus Convention, under which the public must be given reliable and transparent information on environmental matters, and sufficient participation in decision-making.

Translation first paragraph (courtesy of Marc Duchamp): "The Superior Court of Justice of Galicia, Spain, has annulled the declaration of public utility approved by the Government of Manuel Fraga to expropiate the Argozón hills, in Chantada, and to allow the construction of a wind farm. The decision, which may be appealed to the Supreme Court, orders that the 23 wind turbines be removed. The magistrates question that the electrical operation on the part of the Enerfín company has more social interest than "the secular" advantage that the neighbours get from pasturing and the exploitation of wood resources." Further down: "The sentence says that there are other similar sources [of energy] that do not harm landscape and wildlife values of the hills".

Among the other complaints Dr Carlton-Foss has of the town's noise study are the locations where sound samples were taken as well as the attention paid to pure tones while ignoring various octave levels of noise, or specifically low-frequency sound levels. The report also provides several recommendations, which include calling for the reform of acceptable sound regulations that utilize a different analytical system than one based on decibels.

A legislative effort to figure out how to assess wind farms for property tax purposes is gaining momentum, state Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, said recently. At present, Illinois counties can use different methodologies to assess wind farms, a situation that complicates assessments for any wind farm straddling county lines. Wind farms are a relatively new, but growing, industry in Illinois. "There's nothing like it out there," Mautino said. "How do you make a statewide standard for something that didn't exist during your whole 150 years as a county?" For about a month and a half, Mautino has been negotiating with other interested parties - including county assessors and the Taxpayers' Federation of Illinois - to try to settle on a methodology for assessing wind farms. The legislation is House Bill 380. The negotiating group has decided that the assessment should be based on the cost of construction. Mautino said his legislation would specify a number - still subject to change - to represent the cost of construction, and a formula then would be applied to come up with a final calculation.

The Union Beach Borough Council authorized a special counsel in late June to seek an injunction from the state Superior Court that would block the transport of the wind turbine, but so far no hearing date for the injuction has been set.

Unit 5 Superintendent Gary Niehaus has been getting a lot of questions about the potential of adding wind turbines to the district's energy plans. The board has applied for a grant to pay for a feasibility study that would take about a year. A turbine could be constructed in about three years

Among the more worrisome bits of information gleaned from the weekend conference was that current assumptions of safe setbacks are likely wrong. Many opponents of large scale industrial wind factories have pressed for setbacks from homes of at least two kilometres. (Ontario's Green Energy Act prescribes setbacks of just 550 metres.) But studies done by sound experts John Harrison and Richard James now show that in some conditions the low-frequency noise can travel up to 15 kilometres.

After seven years of planning, the University has given an ultimatum to its proposed wind turbine project, possibly ending the project's existence due to budget concerns. The project, which would provide at least 1.5 megawatts of electricity for campus use, has an estimated cost of about $5.2 million by the University's calculations - a number that is $700,000 more than what was budgeted.