Fairness for wind farm neighbours

Wind farm developers are now offering Irish farmers up to €18,000 per year for a wind turbine to be built on their land.

These approaches usually occur with a knock on the door, an offer of an up-front payment, and sometimes a bottle of whiskey is produced once a confidentiality agreement is signed.

It seems like an attractive proposition, and a convincing salesperson can get a naïve landowner signed up quickly. Little does the Irish farmer know that, in the United Kingdom, landowners are negotiating amounts up to £40,000 (€50,000) for a wind turbine on their land.

The whole process is reminiscent of developers in the boom years approaching small farmers and offering them what seems like large amounts of money for parcels of land that are later sold for vast fortunes by developers.

Meanwhile, neighbouring householders know nothing about what is going on until a wind testing mast appears on the land and a planning permission notice is put up. On further investigation, they discover that a wind turbine, taller than the Dublin Spire, is proposed to be built, as close as 500 metres from their family home. They are about to discover that if permission is granted, they will face at least 20 years of noise disturbance, visual pollution and property devaluation.

Evidence of this is in the British Medical Journal’s editorial this year which stated that there were real public health concerns associated with noise from wind turbines for those who live nearby. And, also in the UK, the Home Valuation Office is revaluing homes near wind farms into lower council tax bands, which is clear evidence that living near a wind farm can wipe thousands of euros from the value of a property.

What is even more disturbing is the way in which wind farms divide once united communities into winners and losers — those who benefit by up to €18,000 per year, and others who have to suffer the noise and visual disturbance whilst not being able to sell their home.

We now need a fairer and a more democratic process for wind farm development. For a wind turbine to be built, there needs to be negotiated agreement with all people who live nearby before planning permission can be sought. We also need the Wind Turbine Bill 2012 to be passed. This Bill, due before the Dáil shortly, will create minimum distances for wind turbines from homes and protection for families from noise and visual disturbance, as well as sending a clear signal that the rights of communities are more important than the profits of developers.

Mike de Jong

Strokestown

Co Roscommon