‘The noise from our neighbour’s new wind turbine is making our lives a misery. What can we do?’ 

Query: Dear Mary Frances, I live on a small farm that my family have lived in for generations. We’ve always had a close relationship with the neighbours since we are all farmers.

Around a year ago, one of our neighbours decided to put up a wind turbine on his farm. We were all delighted for him. Not only did we not object, we helped him look into setting it up in the hope that we could also do it one day. He got an exemption from the local authorities because it was exactly 20m high and it was not attached to any of his farm buildings.

However, the turbine is only 200m away from our family home, and there is a constant low-level whirring noise when the wind blows in the direction of our house. The first we noticed was the dog, starting to whine before we would hear it. But now we find it really annoying, especially at night time.

We tried to be good neighbours and waited to see if it would get better. Two months in, I sat down with the neighbour over a cup of tea and explained our situation to him in the best way I could.

Things really took a turn for the worse when he laughed it off and claimed it was a ‘placebo affect’ [ie, the bogus nocebo effect —NWW]. He claimed that his home was closer and that his planning permissions outlined that as long as the turbine didn’t make more than 43db(A) of noise, it doesn’t classify as a nuisance.

I had no intention of bringing trouble into our neighbourhood, and have tried to reason with him many times. When one of our other neighbours tried to intervene, he was told my wife and I were jealous that he was going to make a reliable income out of the turbine.

I have never been anything but happy for his success and had even offered him advice in the past. Is there any way I can look into the legality of the issue, even though he claims that the noise does not exceed the legal limits?

Dear reader, I sympathise with your plight and it is a pity that the sensible approach you took did not work. Unfortunately, there are very few options open to you from a legal perspective.

Unlike in other countries, no universal statutory noise standards apply in Ireland; if noise limits are above a certain level, they are not automatically deemed to be a nuisance.

But the noise is affecting your quality of life and you have a right to make a complaint to either your local authority or your local district court. However, you should think carefully before going down the complaint route.

Your first step should be to find out more information about exactly how noisy this turbine is. Many private environmental companies carry out noise surveys. Armed with this report, you could then decide on your next step.

If, for example, the noise level from the turbine was only 40 decibels, which is similar to the noise of the average fridge [in your bedroom? —NWW], then I don’t think a local authority or a court would have much sympathy for you.

You also need to consider that there is no going back once you have taken a decision to make such a complaint and any tentative relationship you may still have with your neighbour would end forever.

Making such a complaint could also lead to divisions in a small community with people being forced to take sides. If there is only a slim chance of your complaint being upheld, you have to consider whether it is really worth it.

The environmental engineer you engage to do the noise report should also be able to advise you as to whether the turbine is located too near your house and whether you would have any chance of getting it moved.

If the report reveals a high level of noise that is persistent and you decide to proceed with a complaint, you should try once more to resolve matters with your neighbour.

You could arrange a cordial meeting with him and the environmental engineer. If an independent professional explains the situation to him, backed up by research, he might take the situation seriously and not laugh it off.

If that does not work, your next step is to make a complaint to your local county council and furnish them with as much information as possible. The council may decline to get involved in what they perceive to be an issue between neighbours.

If they do nothing about it, then you can refer the matter to your local district court. Noise complaints to the district court are not common. I have been 20 years attending Ballaghaderreen District Court, which sits once a month, and I have only come across one such complaint there. That concerned noise from neighbours in an adjoining property, and it was upheld.

You can make the complaint to your local district court yourself: make an appointment with the district court clerk for a hearing date, and you need to refer to the legislation under which the complaint is being made.

You will also have to serve notice on your neighbour that you are making the complaint about him. You must complete all the relevant forms and you will have to give evidence at the hearing of the case and call witnesses to support your claim if necessary.

Your neighbour will be given the opportunity to attend at the court hearing and give his side of things. It would help his defence to say that he sought the necessary planning permission for the wind turbine, constructed it within the planning guidelines and made efforts to limit the noise.

There is no guarantee that you would succeed in your district court case.

Have you considered doing things on your property that might reduce the noise, such as planting a hedge or trees? Is triple-glazing your windows an option? Can you seek professional advice as to how to reduce noise pollution in your home? Finally, have you considered inviting your neighbour to professional mediation in order to resolve the issue?

All of those things might be better options than potentially causing World War 3 with everyone in the community by making a complaint. Tread carefully with this one and do your research before taking any action.

Mary Frances Fahy is a solicitor and tax consultant and the principal of Fahy Neilan Solicitors, Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon.