November 28, 2011
England

Experts’ evidence at landmark wind farm noise case

By SHARON PELL, www.spaldingtoday.co.uk 28 November 2011

Expert evidence about the wind farm at Deeping St Nicholas will be heard at London’s High Court on Wednesday following a four-month break in a landmark case.

Witnesses are scheduled to return on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to give their views on the eight turbines, which a couple claim have driven them out of their home.

Jane and Julian Davis are suing landowners RC Tinsley Ltd and Nicholas Watts, as well as Fenland Windfarms Ltd and Fenland Green Power Co-operative Ltd, who own and operate the wind farm.

The couple claim the noise from the site near to their family farm forced them to move to rented accommodation in Spalding in 2007.

The pioneering case is expected to test the law on whether the sound created by the turbines amounts to a nuisance.

Proceedings were adjourned at the end of July after almost a month of evidence from a number of witnesses.

The court has previously heard how Mrs Davis described the turbines as making different sounds and vibrations, from a low-key “hum” to a “swoosh” and pulsing beat”.

She insisted playing the radio, wearing ear plugs and medication did nothing to blot out the sound.

Mrs Davis also described how the lengthy legal battle had “taken over their lives”.

However, farmer Nicholas Watts has told how his house is 910 metres from the nearest turbine, but he has never been bothered by the sound they make.

He told the court he asked Mrs Davis to tell him the next time she was experiencing noise problems but when he visited her farm, all he could hear was a “steady swish”.

Mr and Mrs Davis have been accused in court of being “unduly sensitised to sounds that would not adversely affect the ordinary person”.

The couple’s QC, Peter Harrison, has in turn claimed the main turbine operator has attacked the credibility of the Davis family rather than “examine what they were actually being told”.

Next Monday, the court is due to hear evidence about property valuations, while closing submissions are expected to be made next Friday.

It is unknown how long Mr Justice Hickinbottom will take to deliver a verdict on the case.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/11/28/experts-evidence-at-landmark-wind-farm-noise-case/