July 14, 2011
England

Davis family – ‘We did not exaggerate our nightmare’

www.spaldingtoday.co.uk 14 July 2011

Jane Davis, who claims she was driven out of her home by the “nightmare” noise of wind turbines, yesterday denied exaggerating their impact or “giving up far too easily” before moving out.

Concluding her evidence, Mrs Davis was asked about claims that she “abandoned” her Deeping St Nicholas home without doing all she could to come to terms with the wind farm.

Her QC Peter Harrison said: “It has been put to you that you gave up far too easily, that you should have tried to live with it, and that you exaggerated the effects.

“How possible do you think it would have been for you to remain at your home if there were no alterations in the noise?

She replied: “It would have been impossible.”

She told Mr Justice Hickinbottom she was regularly falling asleep in the afternoons, and her ability to function normally was being “severely compromised”.

She added: “The whole situation was becoming intolerable. We tried to put up with it for six months”.

She and husband Julian had every incentive to stay, she told the court, adding they had in hand a range of projects which were shelved by their move in 2007.

The prolonged litigation had “taken over their lives,” she said, and the last few years had been “incredibly hard”.

The couple are suing RC Tinsley Ltd, Nicholas Watts, Fenland Windfarms Ltd and Fenland Green Power Cooperative Ltd.

The couple are seeking a permanent court injunction to halt the noise, or damages of up to £2.5m.

The defendants deny creating a noise nuisance and suggest the couple became “unduly sensitive” to the sound.

Asked about the noise by Mr Justice Hickinbottom, Mrs Davis described a range of sounds and vibrations saying it was sometimes “like a toy in a tumble drier”, mimicking the sound to try to convey its effect.

Mrs Davis insisted that measures such as the radio, ear plugs and medication did nothing to blot out the sound.

By the time they decided to leave Grays Farm the noise of the wind farm was taking an “absolutely terrible” toll on their peace, said Mrs Davis.

On Monday, defence QC William Norris said the turbine operators acted reasonably and fairly in response to all complaints.

He said it was “never reasonably foreseeable” that the couple would be “adversely affected” by the sound of the turbines.

He suggested the couple’s accounts of unsettling noise from the turbines has been “exaggerated, inconsistent and unreasonable”.

The hearing continues.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/07/14/davis-family-we-did-not-exaggerate-our-nightmare/