The Spalding Guardian reported today that South Holland District Council has won liability orders to recover £110,000 outstanding in unpaid business rates and council tax.

Jane and Julian Davis travel the UK and abroad to speak out against wind farms and advise people who want to object to local wind farm proposals.

The Davis’ reportedly owe over £1000 to their local council in respect of the house they claim is uninhabitable due to nearby wind turbines. According to the Spalding Guardian the district valuer has the power to take the house off the list so council tax no longer falls due – but the case can only be pursued by Mr and Mrs Davis.

The Davis’ are currently seeking £2.5m compensation for ‘loss and damage to their amenity‘ in the High Court due to wind turbine noise. The couple bought the property in Lincolnshire with 0.4 acre grounds from Lincolnshire County Council in 1996. They say the property is now only worth £30-£50,000 and ‘unmarketable‘.

The environmental health officer at South Holland Council has confirmed that no other residents of Deeping St Nicholas have submitted formal complaints and that the wind farm has been monitored and confirmed not to be causing a statutory noise nuisance. The High Court hearing commenced in July and is due to reconvene in November.

The wind farm landowners and operators: RC Tinsley Ltd, Nicholas Watts, Fenland Windfarms Ltd and Fenland Green Power Cooperative Ltd say that the turbines have not created any noise nuisance.

The review ‘Wind Turbine Sound & Health Effects‘ carried out last year includes an assessment of so called research carried out by anti-wind farm campaigners (including Nina Pierpont).

Following review, analysis, and discussion of current knowledge, the panel of noise experts reached consensus on the following conclusions:

• There is no evidence that the audible or sub-audible sounds emitted by wind turbines have any direct adverse physiological effects.

• The ground-borne vibrations from wind turbines are too weak to be detected by, or to affect, humans.

• The sounds emitted by wind turbines are not unique. There is no reason to believe, based on the levels and frequencies of the sounds and the panel’s experience with sound exposures in occupational settings, that the sounds from wind turbines could plausibly have direct adverse health consequences.

Planning Inspector Elizabeth Ord said that wind turbine noise levels experienced by nearby residents, both at night and during the day would be lower than the limits recommended in nationally recognised guidance (ETSU R 97 “The Rating and Assessment of Noise from Wind Turbines” ).  Despite this she believed that the wind turbine could still lead to sleep disturbance.

The proposed 2.3 MW Enercon E70 wind turbine was to be 121m to tip and 165 metres away from nearest properties. Ord said that a cautious approach should be taken as the wind turbine was proposed close to schools, offices and residential housing. She concluded that the wind turbine would be ‘overbearing’.

The decision goes against previous wind farm appeal decisions where inspectors have confirmed that if predicted noise levels are in compliance with the guidance formally recognised in the renewable energy national planning statement, planning applications should not be refused on noise grounds.

Local Bradford paper ‘The Telegraph and Argus’ has already picked up that the decision could help anti-wind farm campaigners.

Local Councillor Anne Hawkesworth told the paper “The Decision has far-reaching implications for turbine-builders and has prompted a national debate between them, planners and environmental health officials… The planning inspector’s decision should aid local planning authorities to balance the need for more sustainable means of energy production with the concerns of local residents”.

The decision also brings into question whether the government’s decentralised energy generation objectives are achievable if wind turbine planning decisions such as this Bradford case become commonplace.

The five turbine wind farm is located within half a mile of the village of Westmills in South Oxfordshire, England. The turbines started generating electricity in February of last year after a long planning haul patiently negotiated by landowner Adam Twine. More than 200 local people bought into the wind farm co-operative and now receive a financial return on their investment.

The BBC report interviews Director of Westmills Co-op – Rod Blunden who says that modern wind turbines are not noisy. Blunden said “some of the older turbines were noisy there is no doubt, however the noise has now been engineered out”.

Neighbours within half a mile of the wind farm say that the wind farm is not a problem. They believe it is a local landmark which brings in business.

Click here to watch the interview.

A recently published report by Salford University confirms that this phenomenon has occurred at 4 wind farms out of 126 and may be occurring at a further 8 in the UK. Exactly what the cause of the effect is appears uncertain however the issue appears to have been resolved through wind turbine control at all sites in the UK, except one, where investigations continue.