There is a short series on TV at the moment, 'Windfarm Wars', about the impact windfarms can have upon individuals and local communities, and the losing battle that these people have with the windfarm developers, local authorities, and the planning system.
The 'jury is out' on the visual impact that windfarms have but of major concern to the windfarm battlers is the NOISE generated by the turbines and the rotor blades. The NOISE is apparently difficult to monitor, and not always perceptible, and in one dispute that went all the way to the High Court the case relied heavily upon the DISTURBANCE to the community that the NOISE would cause. The campaigners were unable to prove that the NOISE would be excessive, and lost the case, had it been proven then the probability is that the windfarm would not have been developed.
The correlation here is that on two separate occasions, on different properties along Leeds/Wakefield Road, perhaps an eigth of a mile apart, sound monitoring has been undertaken by the council, and on each occasion the results have shown "excessive" NOISE from traffic! On each occasion these results have had to be prised out of the council! Sound monitoring is undertaken to standards set down by the World Health Organisation, and their web site contains a mountain of information relative to NOISE and how injurious it can be to health and well-being, TRAFFIC NOISE is a major concern! NOISE has to be taken into account from a development perspective and there is a link on this page to the Planning guideline concerning NOISE and development.
What of the findings of the council? - This type of monitoring is often undertaken when a new housing development is proposed close by an existing busy road. The results from the monitoring would have meant that special consideration would have to have been given to the sound insulation of the houses, and sound defence walls would have to be built along the road to reduce the NOISE impact. If it couldn't be shown that NOISE impact could be sufficiently minimised, then development might be prevented.
Most of our properties were here long before the NOISE became "excessive".
The council must have amazingly thick carpets to be able to brush so much under them!
