OVER the past few years plans to erect wind turbines have prompted vociferous protests throughout the North.

But they are not the first structures in the countryside to cause demonstrations of anger.

What about the march of enormous pylons decades ago that also changed landscapes forever?

More recently mobile phone masts have been accused of causing illness as well as being unsightly.

Tonight about 100 people are expected at Blackburn Town Hall to oppose two 95-metre high turbines on moors above Edgworth which they believe would be "detrimental to the visual character of this otherwise unspoilt area."

The irony is that wind power is supposedly a green answer to the decimation of our natural resources and environmental pollution caused by other forms of energy. Some countries, like Holland and Denmark, have embraced such turbines although their flat landscapes may not have the character of ours.

A big problem in Lancashire is the lack of central control and co-ordination in planning for turbines. Communities are left feeling that attempts are being made to sneak permissions through in the hope that no one will notice in time to make a fuss.

Such a system is bound to cause antagonism.