PRESS RELEASE, from SALT   24th March 2009

WIND FARM OPPOSITION GROUP MEETING ADDRESSED BY JANE DAVIS

Jane Davis, a farmer’s wife whose family has had to leave their home because of noise from wind turbines was the guest speaker at a well-attended meeting of SALT (Strategic Alliance against Lakeland Turbines) at Mungrisedale Village Hall.

Mr Carter opened the meeting by reminding those present that wind is not an alternative to nuclear power. “In South Africa where they are running out of coal, nuclear power stations are being built. In Germany they are closing nuclear power stations and having to replace each one with two coal power stations. Over twenty-five years a large wind farm would at best displace just one month’s worth of carbon emissions of a single coal power station.”

Jane Davis was introduced as having recently spoken at the Public Inquiry into a proposed wind farm at Silloth. She began by telling the meeting that she and her family had supported wind energy and had not opposed the wind farm in Deeping St. Nicholas. But she said “I have never seen anything as divisive as windfarms. Communities, friends and families are rendered apart.” She had believed the developer’s claims and reassurances, and this trust had effectively led to her family having to leave their home.

“Within days, there was noise. Worst when we were downwind, but the background noise never goes away. It is like a helicopter, uneven and thudding – not like the hum of the motorway. It woke us almost every night and made it impossible to get back to sleep.”

After six months of interrupted sleep the Davis family moved to a rented a house further away from the turbines. Their former home is now used for research into wind farm noise. Jane said “About 20% of installed wind farms cause the kind of problems we have suffered. Because no-one understand why some are so much worse than others – we were told we had the wrong sort of trees around the farm - there is no way of predicting how much noise will created by turbines.”

Jane Davis also told of the very obvious impact on animals and the wildlife: “Within 48 hours all the swallows had left. We suddenly had no molehills. The vibration breaks down the structure of the peat so fungi, at the bottom of the food chain do not survive.” She also said that there is some evidence of increased abortion rates in sheep and “horses are a nightmare with turbines, they get constantly spooked.”

Jane was happy to take questions, and when asked about the impact of turbines on health she replied that it is known that sleep deprivation has considerable negative health impacts – including increased accidents. “Obviously you shouldn’t use heavy machinery when you are suffering chronic sleep deprivation – but as a farmer, what are you supposed to do?” She told of the emotional impact on her family, and told the meeting that her husband, who continues to farm by the Deeping St Nicholas turbines has recently been diagnosed with a heart condition; there is growing evidence and continuing research that this can be caused by proximity to wind farms.

Also at the Mungrisedale meeting was Ron William’s who suffers from noise and light nuisance from the Wharrel’s Hill wind farm at Bothel, by Bassenthwaite. He said “as well as the noise the moving shadows make three rooms unusable for 4 hours a day.”

At the end of the meeting Mrs Davis was asked how she had coped, and she replied “What other choice have I got? We’ve lost everything. If this doesn’t get sorted, we have no future.” She received a standing ovation from the meeting who were visibly shaken by her story. One said “The speaker was brilliant but the whole experience of what she had endured made me feel physically ill.”

The meeting closed with an announcement that a national opposition group would soon be formed as a focal point for gathering evidence to oppose wind turbines.

Background:

Jane Davis has become a national figure speaking at Planning Inquiries in opposition to wind farms and fighting her own legal battles after her family home at Deeping St Nicholas, Lincolnshire became uninhabitable following the construction of a wind farm a kilometre away. Her husband, a farmer now has to live away from his farm. (Their Council Tax banding has been reduced, and on 25th March 2009 the Advertising Standards Agency upheld a complaint that Infinergy Ltd were effectively contradicting the Davis’ claim. http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/Public/TF_ADJ_45978.htm )

SALT – Strategic Alliance against Lakeland Turbines is an organisation set up as an umbrella group providing support, information and expertise to all the groups and individuals across Cumbria fighting to prevent industrial wind turbines undermining the landscape, communities and homes.