IT'S a debate that's far from over among many rural communities where wind farms have been or could one day be built.

But as far as the Victorian Government is concerned, there's no case to answer when it comes to fears about the health impacts of wind turbine noise.

Victorian Chief Health Officer John Carnie last week delivered his verdict on the contentious issue of wind farms and health.

No credible evidence, according to Dr Carnie, exists to substantiate fears that wind turbine noise, either audible or inaudible, has a negative impact on local residents' health.

The likely consequence of Dr Carnie's findings is that future complaints about the health effects of turbines will fall on deaf ears.

The Government will argue there is no more than anecdotal evidence that turbine noise affects people's health.

Yet the number of stories of people complaining of ill-health soon after a wind farm was erected near their homes continues to grow.

Many complaints are from residents with no axe to grind, who simply cannot explain symptoms that coincided with the erection of their local wind farm.

At best, the Government's decision to effectively close the book on these concerns is premature.

At worst, it is an act of negligence that abandons the very rural communities it is obliged to protect.

Buried powerlines

SPENDING $4 billion on burying powerlines to prevent fires in high-risk areas may sound like a logical way to help curb Victoria's bushfire threat.

But there are serious questions about whether it is a practical and effective way to spend such a vast sum of money.

The Victorian Government and the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission are investigating burying powerlines in the Otways, Dandenongs and other high risk areas.

Burying powerlines in those areas would not have stopped the deadly Black Saturday inferno that began in Kilmore East.

But spending at least some of that $4 billion on dramatically improving powerline maintenance may have done exactly that.