November 30, 2011
England

Wind farm damages action settled

Belfast Telegraph, www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk 30 November 2011

A couple have settled a High Court damages action against the owners and operators of a wind farm they say drove them from their farmhouse home with its “unbearable” noise.

A judge was told the terms of the settlement agreed by tenant farmers Sarah Jane and Julian Davis were strictly confidential.

The couple moved out of Grays Farm in Deeping St Nicholas, near Spalding, Lincolnshire, in December 2006 six months after the eight-turbine wind farm began operating about half a mile from their home.

They blamed the “whoom whoom whoom” and the low frequency “hum” of giant turbine blades for their exile in a case that was closely watched by the wind farm industry.

They said the “intolerable” noise disrupted their sleep, made them feel ill and was so severe that it warranted a reduction in council tax and rendered the £2.5 million farmhouse no longer marketable as a family home.

Mr and Mrs Davis were accused of being “over-sensitive” to the noise and “exaggerating and overreacting”.

The couple launched a claim for damages and an injunction against defendants including Fenland Windfarms Ltd and Fenland Green Power Co-operative Ltd.

The long-running hearing was due to resume on Wednesday, but trial judge Mr Justice Hickinbottom was told the case was settled.

Both sides said in a joint press release: “The terms of that settlement are strictly confidential, and the parties will not be answering any questions about the terms of that agreement.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/11/30/wind-farm-damages-action-settled/