August 15, 2007
England
England
A couple forced from their home by noisy wind turbines are prepared to take their fight to the ombudsman.
Jane and Julian Davis moved out of their farm near wind turbines in Deeping St Nicholas in May after months of sleepless nights caused by noise.
And they believe there is no end in sight to the disruption to their lives because South Holland District Council has been dragging its heels investigating the case.
Mrs Davis believes that the council has done nothing to look into the issues of noise at the site since last summer but instead left the investigation in the hands of operator Fenland Windfarms.
She said: “We let them get on with it thinking they were doing something but it turns out they weren’t.
“Even in the full knowledge that we were driven out of our home they still did nothing.
“I absolutely hit the roof when I found out.”
Mrs Davis wrote to the ombudsman complaining that the investigation was not being correctly run but now has to go through the district council’s complaints procedure before any further action is taken.
She believes valuable time was wasted by the council before it accepted an official complaint had been made, only adding to the disruption before the family could return home.
Mrs Davis said: “The whole thing is a farce.
“It has taken almost two months for them to accept the complaint. It shouldn’t be so difficult.”
But the district council said it was normal practice for the site operator to conduct a thorough investigation before action can be taken.
It also said that Mrs Davis did not follow the formal complaints procedure at first, which resulted in the delay.
In the meantime a Government report into aerodynamic modulation, the phenomenon which amplifies wind turbine noise, has recently been released, acknowledging wind conditions at the site could cause disturbances.
Fenland Windfarms will meet the district council today to discuss the latest report by acoustic experts Hayes McKenzie, hired by the company to investigate the issues.
The report has looked at aerodynamic modulation, low frequency noise and other aspects not covered by current noise regulations.
Trevor Gait, operations manager at Fenland Windfarms, said: “We want this sorted out as much as anybody else does.
“It is not doing the industry any good to let this linger.”
By Tom Hughes
14 August 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/08/15/couple-to-fight-on-over-turbine-noise/