Belvoir Locals Oppose Turbines

Noise and Health

In a nutshell wind turbines make noise as the blades turn. Even if you can't physically see the turbines you may be able to hear them. The prevailing wind runs from the west to the east so although the Gedling end of Nottingham Road will bear the brunt of the visual impact the centre of the village will bear the brunt of the noise.

Click here to go and see some videos.

Note on noise at night

There is obviously less noise at night so noises such as turbines can be more easily identified and heard. Some of you will be familiar with the occasional noise at night of the fan at the sewage treatment works, (we have reports that it wakes people as far afield as Lambley Lane). If you do get woken by this annoyance then just imagine being woken nightly by the ever-present and closer turbines.

Frits van den Berg, a physicist at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands, studied noise levels around a German facility of 17 turbines. In a paper published in the November 2004 Journal of Sound and Vibration, he found that at night, because the surface air is often more still than the air at the height of the blades, the noise from the turbines is 15 to 18 dB higher than during the day and carries further. He noted that residents 1.9 kilometers (6,200 feet or 1.2 miles) away expressed strong annoyance with noise from the facility.

Is your home within 1.9km? Unfortunately almost all (maybe 98%) of BJ homes are with 1.9km of the turbines.

Read his paper ...

Effects of wind profile at night on wind turbine sound

Wind turbines produce two types of sound – normal Aerodynamic Noise and Low Frequency Infrasound.

Research has shown that the Low Frequency Sound causes extreme duress to a number of people who are sensitive to its effects. People living and working near wind turbines have been known to experience health problems including sleep deprivation, headaches, irritability, and stress.

Wind farm developers cannot now play down any claims regarding health problems or state that there have been no studies carried out by any professional bodies to substantiate the world wide health claims. The individual stories of people living close to turbines are upsetting, it is beyond belief that Severn Trent Water can think of placing turbines so close to so many residents who may be similarly affected.

In February 2009 details of the Government sponsored Salford University Study on Noise (Research into Aerodynamic Modulation of Wind Turbine Noise URN 07/1235) finally entered the public domain, following sterling work by Dr. Lee Moroney, Directory of Planning and Dr. John Constable, Directory of Policy and Research.  To read the findings of this survey, please click the following:  Wind Turbine Noise Complaint Survey Data

In depth studies have been carried out by Professor Mariana Alves-Pereira of Lusófona University, Lisbon and Nuno Castelo Branco M.D. of the Centre of Human Performance, Alves, Portugal on noise generated from wind turbines on a family living close to four wind turbines. The family were diagnosed with Vibro Acoustic Disease (VAD). Research into VAD has been ongoing since 1980. The sources of VAD vary from industrial complexes to high volume motorways, and even aircraft cabins. Pereira and Branco made a presentation at the Inter Noise Conference held in Istanbul, Turkey in August 2007. Read their presentation ...

Public health and noise exposure: the importance of low frequency noise

Dr. A. Harry has written a paper examining the issue of possible adverse effects of wind turbines on health and presents a preliminary community survey ...

Wind Turbines: Noise and Health

Nina Pierpont, MD, PhD, a clinical and environmental physician and scientist from Malone, New York, in her paper Wind Turbine Syndrome states 'Wind turbine Syndrome likely will become an industrial plague. ...'

Wind Turbine Syndrome

A paper by B. J. Frey, MA and P. J. Hadden, BSc, FRICS not only reviews the acoustics of wind turbines and the adverse impact of noise on health, but also includes a discussion of human rights issues. In relation to the adverse health effects, the paper considers the basic violation of human rights, if Government puts more importance on achieving an ideological goal than safeguarding the basic human rights of its People. Read their paper ... Noise Radiation from Wind Turbines Installed near Homes: Effects on Health

Read an interesting report 'Location Location Location' - an Investigation into Wind Farms and Noise by the Noise Association ...Location Location Location (pdf)

Yet another Lincolnshire wind farm is causing noise problems for local residents. Read about it in Spalding Today

Professors Graham Harding, Pamela Harding and Arnold Wilkins recently published a paper on Wind Turbine Flicker and Photosensitive Epilepsy. Please read their paper ...

Wind turbines, flicker and photosensitive epilepsy: Characterising the flashing that my precipitate seizures and optimising guidelines to prevent them

Carmen Krogh, a retired pharmacist from Bonnechere Valley Township in Canada, speaks of her experience of the health effects of wind turbines. 

Woman tells a tale of turbine torment