Windfarm 'making my life a misery' 

A west Cumbrian man claims his life has been made a total misery because of a windfarm just half a mile from his home.

Ron Williams, of The Swallows, Bothel, has revealed that he is taking sleeping pills and suffering mental anguish because of the Wharrels Hill turbines.

The 73-year-old is now urging people living near two proposed windfarm sites to do all they can to oppose the applications.

And this week the Ministry of Defence raised objections to one of the proposals, at Fleeter Wood between Dearham and Tallentire.

The MoD claims turbines at Fleeter Wood would interfere with radar capabilities and prevent the Royal Air Force from providing a full air traffic radar control service in the area.

The MoD, in a letter to Allerdale council’s planning boss Ric Outhwaite, states that it is aware that Novera Energy claims to have technical information that would counter the RAF’s claims.

But until that information has been analysed the Ministry said it was still of the opinion that the windfarm should not proceed.

Its objection has been greeted with delig ht by those opposing the establishment of a windfarm.

Margaret O’Hare, of the Tallentire Action Group which is against a proposed windfarm at Tallentire HIll, said this objection was a matter of national consideration and it was inconceivable that any more building could be carried out before there was a full public inquiry into security and safety of Sellafield.

The Fleeter Wood proposals have been on display this week to give people a chance to view them and make their opinions known.

Mr Williams’s house is just 833 metres away from the Wharrels Hills windfarm.

He said that the low frequency noise had the worst impact. He said: “The swush, swush, swush as each blade breaks the flow of the wind past the tower, obviously three times per revolution is extremely debilitating. The affect is worse at nights when ambient noise level from traffic on the A595 is low.”

Mr Williams said his GP had prescribed him sleeping pills.

Mr Williams said: “In my diary I have recorded, since December 3 until February 26, that on 19 nights I have needed to resort to medication.

“During that time we were away for five nights and the mills did not operate for seven days due to very high winds. That is an average of taking medication twice a week.”

Mr Williams said that windfarm operators claimed that turbine noise levels were within legal limits but he questioned whether the effects of this low frequency noise had been thoroughly investigated.

He added: “One must remember that such noise was used as a form of torture during the last war and is said to be currently used by the Americans.”

There has been a substantial visual impact, too. Because the entire living area of his house faces the wind turbines the visual background rotation is very distracting he said.

At certain angles sunlight hits the blades which reflects rays through his lounge.

Mr Williams said: “This very disturbing flickering stroboscopic effect is such that both blinds and curtain need to be drawn closed, even on a warm sunny day. And even then this flickering can be seen as dark shadows moving over the window area.”

Mr Williams said it was even worse on a sunny winter’s day when the sun was low in the sky and dark silhouettes flashed through the rooms.

He said that in the USA no windfarm could be built within a mile of a house. His house is 833m from the Wharrels Hill windfarm.

But British regulations didn’t even require that he be told that a windfarm was planned when he bought his house in 2002.

He claimed evidence indicated that houses in the vicinity of turbines lost 25 to 30 per cent of their value.

And he added: “The same reports suggests that properties close to a turbine could be unsaleable. I wonder what the definition of close is. Could it be 833m?”

Times & Star

3 March 2008