December 19, 2014
England

Couple loses appeal against wind turbine decision

Boston Standard | 19 December 2014 | www.bostonstandard.co.uk

A couple have lost their High Court bid to take action against Boston Borough Council for allowing a neighbour to put up a wind turbine.

Nigel and Caroline Greaves persued the council to the High Court for allowing Carol Goodson to put up a 15-metre high turbine at Fen Cottage in Midgate Lane, Old Leake.

The pair lived at Chilton Lodge, the nearest residential property which is on the other side of Midgate Lane, and had claimed that a planning condition to limit noise from the turbines was ‘unenforceable and unlawful’.

The case was heard before Mr Justice Dove on November 25 and found in favour of the council.

The couple now face paying the council’s £5,000 court costs.

Permission was granted for the turbine on September 5, 2012, and the structure was put up one week later.

The council had said the couple would not be ‘adversely affected’.

The Greaves’ had sold the property for £385,000 on June 9 this year and said the sale had been made as a result of the noise impact made by the turbine.

The court judgement, seen by The Standard, states: “Mr Richard Buxton, who appeared on behalf of the claimants, indicated that the new owners having moved into the property in the full knowledge of the existence of the wind turbine were not particularly exercised by its presence and confirmed they had not complained.”

The new owner had not sought to associate themselves with this case.

The judge decided the couple had ‘failed to make out a case on the merits’.

The judgement stated: “The claimant did not demonstrate any error of law in relation to the drafting of the condition and there is no reasonable prospect of any appeal proving successful,

“Furthermore, the case does not, as suggested, raise any wider issue of public importance in that it is the application of uncontroversial legal principles to the particular condition in the case.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/12/19/couple-loses-appeal-against-wind-turbine-decision/