The State Government will investigate the health concerns of Victorians who live near wind farms. Last month, the Democratic Labor Party Member for Western Victorian, Peter Kavanagh, asked the Government to investigate whether workers near wind farms faced health hazards. Some landholders near the Waubra wind farm, west of Ballarat, say a low frequency hum from the turbines is making them sick.

Today, the WHO Regional Office for Europe launches its Night noise guidelines for Europe. (1) The book provides ground-breaking evidence on how exposure to night noise can damage people's health, and recommends guideline levels to protect health. The new limit is an annual average night exposure not exceeding 40 decibels (dB), corresponding to the sound from a quiet street in a residential area. Sleepers that are exposed to higher levels over the year can suffer mild health effects, such as sleep disturbance and insomnia. Long-term average exposure to levels above 55 dB, similar to the noise from a busy street, can trigger elevated blood pressure and heart attacks. One in five Europeans is regularly exposed to such noise levels.

The University of Ballarat has begun investigating noise levels near Waubra Wind Farm, with residents claiming low frequency turbine sound is affecting their health. Some say they have experienced headaches, nausea and sleep deprivation since the turbines began operating. The tests will be done at various locations

A humming noise from a wind farm near Wellington is driving sleep-deprived locals potty. "It's been horrific, it's noise torture," Makara resident Hans Renner said. "We just want some sleep, I don't think that's an unreasonable request." Haydon Miller said Meridian had promised the wind farm would not be noisy. "Either they misled us, or they got it terribly wrong."

Europe should halt the construction of any more wind farms until it has further examined their impact on wildlife, landscapes and the value of nearby houses, a new anti-wind farm group said on Tuesday. "Wind farms represent the worst-case scenario," the European Platform Against Windfarms (EPAW) said in a letter to European Union commissioners and parliamentarians, in which it called for a moratorium on all wind projects.

The big challenge, wind developers acknowledge, is modifying site permits that restrict the spacing and height of turbines. Neighbors are often put off by the visual impact of the turbines themselves ...Wind developers face an additional hurdle to repower in Denmark, where legislation going into effect next year will require wind-park operators to compensate residents if wind turbines reduce their property values.

The regional authorities have been opposing the plan to build two more wind-farms in Vysočina region. They fear that the facilities would harm the landscape and make the region less attractive for tourists. ...the study about the effect on the environment has showed that the wind-farms would significantly affect the landscape and may possibly decrease the numbers of tourists that are attracted to the region by its rural scenery.

Some 150 people today protested against the construction of wind turbines in Poland and the Czech Republic at a Czech-Polish tourist border crossing. According to the protesters, various investors plan to build up to 400 windmills in the area - the Czech and Polish side of the Orlicke hory mountains. They say the construction of up to 200 metre high windmills would go against the character of the landscape.

The government wants 45% of the country's electricity to come from renewables such as wind, hydro, and solar by 2010. And that's just a start. "This challenge will create a new industrial revolution," Portugal's economy minister, Manuel Pinho, told the BBC. ...The campaigners are torn between their concern about climate change and their love for the wildlife. "We should have renewable power but not at any price," Joao says.

There is no shortage of wind in the densely-populated Netherlands but there is a shortage of space and in a nation which likes its houses small and its gardens cosy, opposition to wind farms is immense. That is why a new Dutch wind farm is being built so far out to sea it is barely visible on the horizon, reducing the visual impact of its 60 turbines to virtually nil whilst at the same time harnessing higher offshore wind speeds. Offshore wind farms are likely to appear more and more frequently off European coastlines as governments seek to increase their use of renewable energy without angering their citizens by placing giant turbines on their doorsteps.

"These facilities are disproportionate to the islands' energy needs, and the majority of turbines installed in the past no longer function anyway," charged Antonia Antonakis, head of the municipal council of Serifos island. Local authorities fear that since wind turbines are usually situated on isolated hills and mountain tops, new roads will have to be built through previously unspoilt countryside, Antonakis said. Though the project on Serifos would involve building 87 turbines, 150-feet high each, this would provide less than a tenth of the country's renewable energy. The Greek industrial group Mytilineos has put in a bid for the project, which is still under consideration by the government.

Executive director of the RTÉ Transmission Network Mick Kehoe has claimed some wind farm developers were completely ignoring the impact they could have. Continuing problems with reception are being reported in areas such as Rockchapel, Co Cork, and Kilgarvan, Co Kerry. Mr Kehoe called for a coordinated approach to the problem by the planning departments of Cork and Kerry county councils. Siobhan Griffin, of the Kerry County Community and Voluntary Forum, said some of the areas affected by poor reception had large numbers of older people for whom television services were very important.

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".

Farmers who pocket large sums for allowing giant wind turbines near their homes may “live to regret it”, the head of An Bord Pleanala said yesterday writes Treacy Hogan. Some landowners were prepared to tolerate the wind farm turbines within 200 metres of their homes. But the board, in adjudicating on appeals of planning permission, was demanding “significant distance” between the turbines and homes, said John O’Connor. “I hope they (the farmers) don’t live to regret it”, said the board chairman. “I wonder are they going to stay in their homes”, he added.

Wind farm objectors, including a number of large-scale barley tillage farmers, yesterday won a landmark planning battle, shooting down plans for 17 giant wind turbines, taller than the Spire of Dublin. After a high-profile fight, An Bord Pleanala finally refused permission for Dutch developers WEOM to erect the 400ft-high turbines at Kilbraney, Co Wexford. The decision puts down a national marker that planners will not automatically give the green light for wind farms where they can visually damage the landscape and impact on the lives of local people.

Only a massive immediate investment in wind energy and the installation of thousands of wind turbines over the next decade will permit France to reach its target of further reducing carbon dioxide emissions, according to a new report by a state agency.

The Wind Farms Awareness Group before the meeting. The encroachment of wind farms into Perthshire was again halted by councillors as another five proposed schemes were knocked back.

They introduced the world to "environmentally friendly" energy, but now some of Europe's "greenest" countries are under pressure to backtrack on wind farms as public anger grows over their impact on the countryside.