March 10, 2007
New Zealand
New Zealand
Noise from the proposed Motorimu Wind Farm would be heard across nearby farmland, but the sounds would be within recommended guidelines, a consent hearing was told yesterday.
Noise expert Malcolm Hunt said people in nearby homes might hear sounds from the wind farm from “time to time”, but not to an extent that would exceed current guidelines and standards.
“Whether one hears the wind- farm sound or not is not a reasonable criterion for wind-farm noise impact assessment, in my view.”
Mr Hunt was giving evidence on behalf of Motorimu Wind Farm Ltd’s application for resource consent to build a 127-turbine wind farm on the Tararua Range behind Linton and Tokomaru.
One submitter to the consent application referred to the “Ashhurst example”, and claimed wind turbines can cause major problems as far away as 2.5km. He said he had looked into this issue with Meridian Energy Ltd, and examined the impact of noise on Ashhurst residents.
By Helen Harvey
Manawatu Standard
10 March 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/03/10/noise-issue-downplayed/