National Assembly Committee calls for tougher noise guidelines to protect windfarm neighbours
30 May 2012
The National Assembly for Wales’s Petitions Committee has called for faulty wind turbines to be switched off at night and for the introduction of buffer zones to protect nearby residents.
The recommendations come in a report produced in response to a petition calling for greater control of noise from wind turbines. The petition collected more than 1000 signatures.
The Petitions Committee concluded that such measures could be applied if the Welsh Government amended statutory planning guidance with regards to faulty turbines and buffer zones.
The Committee recognises that the Welsh Government only has powers over planning concerning the siting of on-shore installations generating less than 50 Megawatts, but heard that noise nuisance was not always commensurate with the size of the installation.
The Committee held a consultation on the issue and, as a result of receiving a large number of consultation responses from the village of Gwyddgrug in Carmarthenshire, visited two windfarms in the area.
The Committee received an overwhelming number of responses from people who claimed that noise from wind turbines affected their sleep and disrupted their everyday lives.
“We were told that some people no longer enjoyed being outside in their own gardens, others were afraid that their homes would be devalued and some had sleep problems leading to mental and physical health issues, “ said the Chair of the Petitions Committee, William Powell AM.
“The health and wellbeing of people living in Wales is a top priority and it is vital that residents living close to wind turbines are protected.
“The Committee recognises the importance of securing green energy sources to meet our energy needs in the future, however, this should not be done at the expense of people’s health.”
The Committee welcomes the Environment and Sustainability Committee’s consideration of the wider issue of energy policy in Wales and looks forward to that Committee’s report on the issue, which will be published soon.