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Although overall support for wind farms in Australia is strong, the rapid growth in their number and size has led to concerns about their visual impact, as evidenced by organised opposition and litigation. In March 2018, an Australia-wide Internet survey mainly of clubs and councils was conducted which asked respondents to rate the scenic quality of the landscape with and without a wind farm, and also to rate the acceptability or otherwise of the wind farm in scenes with the wind farm. Photographs of wind farms in NSW, Victoria and SA were used. From the response of nearly 800 participants a sample of 556, weighted to be representative of the Australian population, was analysed. While the respondents rated the scenic quality of landscapes with wind farms lower than scenes without them, they rated wind farms acceptable in virtually all landscapes, including high scenic quality coastal scenes. The finding suggests that the community is very tolerant of the visual impact of wind farms. Results are presented for 18 wind farms. This survey is unique in that it not only asked participants to rate the landscape with and without wind farms but it also asked them to rate the acceptability of the wind farm in each scene. To the author's knowledge, this had not been accomplished previously in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telecommunications forms a part of every aspect of our lives. This paper looks at mobile telecommunications infrastructure (TI) and how it impacts visually on the urban landscape from a planning perspective. First, the impact of low-impact and non low-impact TI on the build environment. This includes examples of differences types of TI. Also, current trends in Western Australia in terms of the planning approval process, and specifically, the accumulative effect of low-impact TI on the streetscape. Second, ways in which local and state governments can more proactively and effectively deal with TI by enabling site specific design outcomes that reduce the visual clutter of TI on the skyline. In addition, how do we deal with existing TI that may be considered urban blight? How do we encourage carriers to remove and/or redesign these existing TI? How can existing legislation be improved to enable best practice in the deployment of TI? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey of the visual effects of wind farms was undertaken in South Australia, with the aim of quantifying the impact of wind farms on the perceived scenic quality of landscapes. In the study a total of 311 participants assessed the scenic quality of a photographed landscape in 68 coastal and inland locations where wind farms could be located, both without wind farms and with wind farms digitally added to the scene. A key finding of the study was that wind farms generally had a negative effect on landscapes of higher scenic quality but a positive effect on landscapes of lower scenic quality. The negative visual effects of a wind farm did not reduce appreciably with distance. White, blue or grey coloured turbines were preferred over tan or rainbow hues, but this finding was based on a small number of scenes. Limitations of the study included using static views of wind farms and having an insufficient number of scenes to assess the influence of the number of turbines on scenic quality ratings. The study concluded that wind farms should avoid areas of higher perceived scenic quality, particularly on the coast, and be located in areas of lower scenic quality. The study adds to the growing body of international research on community attitudes to wind farms, and contributes useful knowledge for future planning of wind farms in Australia. These research results should assist communities, government agencies and the wind energy industry and improve the planning and design of wind farms by taking community perceptions into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Time-lapse photography used to document temporal visibility changes at wind farm. • Impact analysis provides individual maps corresponding to each visibility condition. • Various impact indices tested for spatial correlation and mean and median found to best match other candidates. • Argued that the median impact is best used, along with worst case, in analysis and visualization for public discussion. The visual impact of infrastructure in the landscape varies through the day, month to month and over longer time periods. This paper describes the use of time-lapse imagery of a wind farm in Tasmania, Australia to develop time series of modelled visual impacts based on changes in the observed visibility. A number of candidate parameters (maximum, mean, median, percentage of time over given thresholds and impact percentiles), which indicate how visual impact changes over time under prevailing local climatic conditions, were compared. Spatial correlations between the potential indicators were examined and it was found that mean and median best correlate with the other possible measures. For locations with proposed wind farms, monitored visibility levels can be used to create images that correspond to these derived indicator conditions. As it is both easy to explain and highly correlated with all other potential indicators, the median visibility condition appears to be the best condition to be analyzed and visualized, along with the worst case, for use in public discussion. The potential of animated sequences of changing conditions—combining imagery, mapping and graphs over an extended period—is also illustrated and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]