Tynwald Day petitioners are calling for the Isle of Man to introduce legal protection against noise from wind turbines.
Philip and Kirrie Jenkins, who live near the site of the proposed wind farm at Earystane, are concerned that there is currently no legislation in the Isle of Man for the assessment of wind turbine noise.
They will be among a number of residents who will be presenting a petition for redress of grievance at this year’s Tynwald Day ceremony which takes place on Friday.
The Jenkins, who live at Colby Glen, point to a recent high court judgment in County Wexford, Ireland, which found that residents have fully justified grounds for wind turbine noise complaints.
The turbines in that case were around 650m from the claimants’ homes and the court found that noise they generated constituted a nuisance for which they could claim damages.
Kirrie said: ‘Our property and holiday cottages are at 500m but our family farm and own land and property adjoining the boundary of the proposed site. The Irish judgment sets a precedent.’
The Jenkins’ petition asks Tynwald to appoint a three-member committee to consider weaknesses in the planning, building control and public health practices and laws relating to wind generation.
It calls on independent research to be carried out into the effects on health and well-being of wind turbine noise including impacts from long term exposure of ‘low frequency noise, infrasound, amplitude modulation and tonal noise as recommended by the World Health Organisation’.
And the petitioners argue that the Isle of Man should introduce regulation of wind power generation by a national agency.
It says this regulation should stipulate adequate separation distances from windfarms, consisting of more than two turbines or with a hub height of 15m or over, to the nearest residential home, communities or working farms.
Scottish planning policy recommends a separation distance of up to 2km between areas of search for onshore wind farms above 20 megawatts (MW) and the edge of cities, towns, and villages, in order to minimise their visual impact.
The Independent Noise Working Group which is supporting residents opposed to the Cair Vie windfarm believes existing UK guidance on noise from windfarms is wide open to interpretation and is pushing for it to be replaced with a British Standard that provides regulatory status and control.
INWG has told the Earystane petitioners: ‘Any notion that a minimal separation distance of 500m is adequate is deeply concerning and requires robust challenge.’
Noise monitoring devices were installed at Earystane as part of the Cair Vie windfarm project between September 18 and October 30 last year.
Correspondence between the government’s Environmental Health Unit and Manx Utilities’ consultants over the acoustic survey has been released under Freedom of Information.
It shows the unit was considering employing the services of an acoustic consultant to advise on and review the noise assessments on the island’s behalf.
An environmental health officer wrote: ‘I have to say this is way out of my comfort-zone having never dealt with any windfarms (or anything I can think of that comes close). And I cannot say with any confidence that I believe their monitoring locations are sufficient, or not.
‘Obviously this is a high profile and contentious application so I wonder whether we/DEFA should engage a consultant with experience of this on our behalf to review things.’
Manx Utilities will not be submitting its planning application for the Cair Vie windfarm until early 2025.
The proposed 20-28 megawatt windfarm is projected to cost £36m including contingency margins but Manx Utilities says it can’t confirm an exact price until a manufacturer is appointed.