March 8, 2011
Australia
Australia
Law group questions wind farm gag clauses
ABC Ballarat, www.abc.net.au 8 March 2011
ABC Ballarat, www.abc.net.au 8 March 2011
The Law Institute of Victoria says contractual clauses that prevent people near wind farms from talking publicly about health problems may not be legally enforceable.
The medical director of the Waubra Foundation, Dr Sarah Laurie, yesterday told the ABC she has seen copies of contracts between landowners and wind energy companies that contained the so-called gag clauses.
The wind industry says the clauses do not exist.
The institute’s president-elect, Michael Holcroft, says courts consider the public interest when ruling on contracts.
“They could certainly put it into a contract but whether it’s enforceable or not is another issue,” he said.
“Normally when courts consider whether they will enforce contracts they take into account a public purpose and public interest component, so if a contract so offended the public interest, they probably wouldn’t enforce it.”
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/03/08/law-group-questions-wind-farm-gag-clauses/