I have experienced a situation (the only wind farm in the UK where a noise issue appears to not have been resolved) where a resident is being affected by a wind farm. However whenever the landowner or other people visit the house, they either cannot hear the noise or can only barely hear it. Sound and how it is perceived differently by humans is a subject we still have much to learn about. What is clear is that the occurrences of disturbance from wind turbines are extremely rare and if we are to tackle climate change through renewable energy sources such as wind energy we have to put matters into perspective… The river noise lapping at my back doorstep may provide me and all of my neighbours with much in the way of sleep disturbance this winter but at least if I’m flooded I’ll have friends to put me up unlike those in the less developed world who may well lose their homes or even their lives.

It may well be that one or two people are being genuinely affected by noise from wind turbines and there is evidence to suggest that unsympathetic handling of noise complaints causes further stress. Developers should do whatever they can to deal with rare complaints. However anti-wind farm campaigners worried about their house prices or those who go around the country making money from objecting to proposals- should not be so irresponsible as to use it to scare communities so much that they cause unnecessary concern and distress.

There has been a number of public opinion polls carried out in the UK and other countries with regard to renewable energy and specifically wind energy. These polls carried out at different stages of the wind farm life generally show support for wind energy. However because wind energy technology is relatively new, there has been very little work carried out in relation to effects on property prices.

A study was however carried out in the US by the Renewable Energy Policy Project (REPP) further to claims from anti-wind energy campaigners that wind turbines were depreciating property prices. REPP’s objective was to determine whether property prices close to wind farms were affected. They looked at 24,300 property transactions in 10 locations over a period of 6 years. For some locations this period included 3 years before the construction of the wind turbines and three years post-construction. The research concluded that there was no evidence to suggest that wind turbines located within a 5 mile radius of property had a detrimental impact and that ironically property prices rose above the regional average. It could be assumed on this basis that wind turbines had a positive affect on value, however a recent UK survey demonstrates that it is more likely to be other factors that influence price variance.

A UK study carried out by Oxford Brookes University in 2007 looked at actual transactions of property sold in 3 locations near wind farms in Cornwall. 919 transactions were studied and a comparison of the mean value of property showed that the value of a terraced house close to a wind farm was lower than a similar house further away. However when the researchers talked to local estate agents it became clear that being close to a wind farm was not the issue and that the terraced properties close to the wind farm were less desirable ex- Ministry of Defence houses. This suggests that other variables have more of an impact than wind turbines.

In summary the evidence base (certainly in the UK) is not sufficient to come to definite conclusion, however what we can say (and indeed the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors say) is that from the research carried out so far, wind farms do not appear to have any discernable impact on property prices.