February 8, 2014
England

Anti-wind campaigners hail house price report

Skegness Standard | 08 February 2014 | www.skegnessstandard.co.uk

A report that found wind turbines wipe up to 11% off the value of homes nearby has been welcomed by campaigners in East Lindsey who say enough’s enough.

However, the report has been dismissed as subjective by others who want to see more of them on the east coast because they say we can no longer rely on traditional energy sources such as gas and oil.

The 12 year study by the London School of Economics (LSE) looked at more than a million sales of properties close to wind farm sites and found that houses within 1.2 miles had between £27,000 and £100,000 slashed from the value.

Melvyn Grosvenor, of the Marsh Windfarm Action Group, said the LSE report confirmed what local residents already knew from experience. He said : “In 2008, just before the Baumber Windfarm planning application was submitted, my property was valued at £275,000. The valuation was required for mortgage purposes. Three or four weeks after the application was submitted the value dropped to £140,000. When the application was dismissed, the value rose again.”

Lincolnshire County Councillor Colin Davie, who represents Ingoldmells Rural, said the new report vindicates the authority’s position that there needs to be greater distance between properties and windfarm developments to protect residents and the council aims to fight for a refusal at Orby when an inquiry is held on February 11 .

He said : “Our view is that Lincolnshire has more than enough in relation to what we need and we should have a degree of caution when looking at where these are situated.”

James Pocklington from the Lincolnshire Pro-Wind Farm Alliance said he hadn’t seen the report in detail but the issue was subjective. He claimed a recent poll showed the majority of people in favour of windfarms in their communities which benefit from the money that comes with them. He said : “A recent Mail on Sunday poll asked the 18 – 35 age group if they would live near them and 82% said yes. People who like windfarms will pay to live near them.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/02/08/anti-wind-campaigners-hail-house-price-report/