Weston Turbines – Say No

People report that noise as their main problem with wind turbines.   A report was produced in 1996 by the Noise Assocation which among several conclusions recommended that Wind Farms should be sited at least a mile away from inhabited properties.  (download and read the full report) That leaves much of Weston and South Baldock with a problem as people living there will be closer than a mile, some properties much much closer.

People have been driven from their homes by the whump, whump, whump sound made by the huge blades of large wind turbines.

“Peace and quiet is the single most important factor people have in
mind when buying a home – with one in five prospective homebuyers
rating it as the most important consideration when choosing where
they will buy.” Alliance and Leicester Survey, 3/6/02

The experience of Jane Davis and her family from Deeping St Nicholas, who live 930m from an eight turbine wind farm, makes worrying reading. As soon as this wind farm became operational in 2007 they started experiencing noise problems which reached such a state that they have had to find an alternative “sleeping house” 5 miles away in order to get an uninterrupted night’s sleep.   Sadly their experience is not unique, but people only realise how big a problem noise can be after the wind farms are operational.

A book “Wind Turbine Syndrome” by Nina Pierpont is shortly to be published analysing the medical effects of living near wind turbines on human beings. In her preface to the book she recommends (as the result of research by herself and others) the following minimum distances (she calls them setbacks) between wind turbines and residences. “Two kilometers, or 1.24 miles, remains the baseline, shortest setback from residences (and hospitals, schools, nursing homes, etc.) that communities should consider.”