April 10, 2014
England

Turbines claim is ‘just hot air’

Daventry Express | 10 April 2014 | www.daventryexpress.co.uk

People living near turbines in the Daventry district have questioned research which claims to show wind farms have no impact on the prices of nearby homes.

The research, funded by Renewables UK – which represents the industry – said wind farms have no negative impact on the prices of property within a five kilometre radius of turbines and can even push up house prices in some areas, according to an analysis of 82,000 transactions over the past two decades.

However, people living in the Daventry area tell a different story. Daventry MP Chris Heaton-Harris, who has campaigned against onshore wind power, said: “The research doesn’t take into account properties within a certain distance of the turbines, and there are a large number of such properties in the constituency.

“There are people living on the edge in Crick, Yelvertoft, and other villages that are all affected.

“One person I’ve spoken to is Christopher Fiddes from Watford. There are plans for five 375-feet high turbines within just 500 yards of his house.

“He had his house valued before there was talk of turbines nearby and then kept an eye on it. His house has dropped 20 to 30 per cent of its value. Others have seen a 10-25 per cent drop in value.

“If you’re on the edge of a village looking out over what was a beautiful rural country view, turbines will permanently change that.

“And it’s not just the views, you’ve got noise, shadow flicker and other effects.

“The Department of Climate Change always quotes the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors saying turbines don’t affect house prices.

“But RICS has told them to stop quoting that as the details are old and more research needs to be done.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/04/10/turbines-claim-is-just-hot-air/