August 7, 2012
England

Turbine fears all came true

Sussex Express | www.sussexexpress.co.uk 7 August 2012

Your readers may have read an article in the Daily Mail (‘Wind Farms DO hit house prices’, Gerri Peeve, July 23).

This reported that the value of a home near the Fullabrook wind farm, Barnstaple, has been reduced from £400,000 to £300,000 by the presence of turbines. This was confirmed by the Valuation Office Agency and resulted in a reduction in council tax of just £39 per month. One of the major factors in this devaluation decision was turbine noise.

There is an interesting parallel for any Ringmer residents who are now reporting turbine noise and seeking council tax reductions. The main spokesperson for the Fullabrook development was a Mr Hector Christie, brother of Mr Augustus Christie, Chief Executive of Glyndebourne Productions Limited.

Before and during the public inquiry Augustus Christie, his ‘experts’ and Ringmer’s LibDem councillors denied any possibility of such a noise nuisance. Indeed Councillor Professor Emeritus Peter Gardiner characterised suggestions of noise and of a threat to property values as ‘scaremongering’.

Hopefully, never again will local politicians offer technical or scientific insights on such a crucial issue unless they can claim demonstrable expertise.

On a lighter note, one can only hope that there are no more Christie siblings planning grandiose ‘green energy’ solutions.

Dr Tony Parker, Ringmer

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/08/07/turbine-fears-all-came-true/