Environmental experts are to be enlisted to assess the damage caused by windfarms across the north and north-east, it has emerged. The Scottish Parliament's petitions committee voted in favour of the move after considering claims from a retired university professor from the north-east. Dixie Dean says that the mechanical vibrations transmitted through land-based turbines to the surrounding terrain lead to problems. Mr Dean, a former business professor who has also worked in the field of mycology, says the impact will "devastate" the sand, soil and peat in the immediate area. His petition states: "These vibrations will in time destroy the very fabric of peat, sand and soil for miles around. Peat bogs shaken to pieces will be flushed down to pollute streams as fibres disintegrate, collapse and rot."

A major announcement is thought likely today on a bid for planning permission for another controversial giant windfarm on Lewis which could polarise opinions ahead of local elections in May. Speculation has been heightened as Alan Wilson, the deputy enterprise minister, who will make the final decision on the contentious scheme to build 53 turbines at Eisgein, is due to visit Stornoway with the First Minister Jack McConnell for the Highlands and Islands Convention. It is believed Mr Wilson is minded to approve the application subject to certain conditions and, provided legal issues are finalised, could confirm what is seen as a significant investment opportunity to regenerate the isles’ economy.

Plans for a controversial windfarm at a Perthshire beauty-spot have been approved - despite almost 700 objections and concerns about the impact on local water supplies. In a 75-page judgment issued yesterday, Scottish ministers overruled a decision by Perth and Kinross Council to refuse a 16-turbine development at Drumderg, near Alyth. The ruling, which follows a four-week public inquiry that ended in June, has disappointed opposition campaigners.

A GROUP of residents is making a desperate, last-ditch attempt to prevent the construction of Suffolk's first wind farm - because of alleged shortcomings by a local authority when it gave the go-ahead.