A comprehensive study by Salford University has concluded that the noise phenomenon known as aerodynamic modulation (AM) is not an issue for the UK's wind farm fleet. AM indicates aerodynamic noise from wind turbines that is greater than the normal degree of regular fluctuation of blade swoosh. It is sometimes described as sounding like a distant train or distant piling operation. The Government commissioned work assessed 133 operational wind projects across Britain and found that although the occurrence of AM cannot be fully predicted, the incidence of it from operational turbines is low.

It may look like a dilapidated farm steading at the moment, but an unremarkable group of buildings represents an enterprising future for Reg and Tamsin Watson. The huddled settlement the couple are planning to restore is, in countryside measurements, two fields away from a proposed wind turbine that will, with its eight "sisters" at Moorsyde, dominate their view of north Northumberland and the Borders. Metric measurements come in at 600 metres, but when the mast and blades also take up 110 metres of sky, the structure will appear very close indeed.

Village residents could be faced with a gale of noise pollution if plans for a new windfarm are recommended. Llanrhaeadr county councillor Paul Marfleet claimed Nantglyn residents are becoming increasingly concerned over plans for a new windfarm near the village.

A family whose lives have been blighted by wind turbine noise have abandoned their Deeping St Nicholas home. Jane and Julian Davis and daughter Emily had been moving between their home and a "safe house" in Spalding on a daily basis whenever they found noise from the Deeping St Nicholas wind farm unbearable at night. Now they say they cannot go through another summer of interrupted sleep and are leaving the family home to live long term at a rented house until the situation improves.

Marshland St James is an isolated, functional, centre-less village, little more than a ribbon of houses along a country road surrounded by farms. In the far west of Norfolk, close to the borders with Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, it is a place that locals describe as "bandit country". It is not a place you expect an issue of national importance to find its focus. But on Monday, just a few days before the government released its white paper on energy, a local farmer was found dead in a drainage canal close to his home. A statement from his family linked his death to a battle over wind farms that has torn the village apart.

Throughout the lengthy debate, the couple remained on the fence and were largely untroubled about the prospect of having a wind farm practically on their doorstep. But for the past eight months, Julian and Jane say the repetitive thumping of air and humming of electric has blown away their peace. "It's very hard to describe how I'm feeling after nearly a year of living next to the turbines," says Mr Davis, 42. "The biggest problem is the low frequency noise these things produce. "It is not immediately noticeable, but once you hear it and feel the vibration, it begins to drive you mad. "It's just that little bit faster than the noise of a heartbeat, so your body is constantly racing to catch up. We've had friends who come to stay with us who don't notice the noise and vibration at first, and think we're exaggerating. "It's only after a couple of days that it becomes a constant irritation which you just can't shake off.

A woman forced to rent a second home to sleep in after being kept awake by noise from wind turbines will speak at an event in Angus organised by a windfarm protest group. Jane Davis claims she has been unable to get a good night's rest since eight turbines were erected half a mile from her farm in rural Lincolnshire. Mrs Davis, who has spoken on Radio 4 and GMTV about the problem, will talk about her experiences tomorrow at a meeting organised by Friends of the Forest, a group opposed to plans for windfarms at Montreathmont Forest, near Brechin, and Rossie Moor, near Montrose.

A family who live in the shadow of a wind farm in Lincolnshire say they have "lost everything" just because of the noise it makes. Farmer Julian Davis, his wife Jane and their teenage daughter have already had to rent a separate house to sleep in because they are kept awake by the sound of the eight turbines. They claim their home, formerly worth £170,000, cannot be sold because it is so blighted by noise pollution but they may abandon it anyway. http://www.windaction.org/documents/7337

The majority of people living near wind turbines believe that the noise they make is ruining their health and quality of life, a report has revealed. Neighbours also claim that the constant hum and the loud "whooshing" sound made by the blades in high winds is destroying the value of their homes. A survey of people whose homes are situated within 1.2 miles of turbines has shown that three-quarters of them feel that the noise has damaged their quality of life while four out of five say it has affected their health.

Candidates lining up for a crack at the Clwyd West Assembly seat are being urged to blow political hot air in the direction of a controversial renewable energy issue. Llanrhaeadr yng Nghinmeirch county councillor Paul Marfleet is urging current Clwyd West AM Alun Pugh and prospective candidates to consider the concerns of Nantglyn residents over proposals for more wind turbines to be situated near the village. Residents are concerned over plans for 29 new wind turbines around the village by two companies, Windpower Wales and Tegni Cymru Cyf.

A farmer who says wind turbines have ruined his family's life, has lent his support to Northumberland protesters fighting 28 on their own doorstep. Julian Davis, whose Lincolnshire farm stands less than a kilometre from a wind farm says the constant thump and hum the turbines emit has driven him and wife Jane to distraction. At 100 metres high even they would be dwarfed by the structures proposed for Middlemoor, near South Charlton, north of Alnwick. His advice is simple - fight the plan now because it is too late once they are built.

On a sunny spring morning, Deeping St Nicholas provides a perfect snapshot of English country life. The only buildings that break the flat horizon of the Lincolnshire fens are silver-grey church spires and neat red-brick farmhouses, around which are clustered barns and silos. A covey of wood pigeons clap their wings as they take off from the black, loamy, fertile soil striped with green lines of oilseed rape. And then you hear it. "Whoompf ... whoompf ... whoompf ..." Like the sound of an approaching train that never comes, the thumps that break the still air are not overpoweringly loud - at about 65 decibels, they're the level of a lorry going by at 30 miles an hour 100 yards away. But what is so menacing is the regularity and the scope of the noise, which feels like a giant heartbeat shaking the earth. When you see the culprits - the eight mammoth wind turbines installed just outside Deeping St Nicholas last May - you're actually surprised that the noise isn't louder. These aren't the little propellers that David Cameron nails to his roof to warm his cocoa and heat his children's baths. They're veritable behemoths - 100 metres high, as tall as Big Ben's tower.

It is believed a twisted blade was to blame for excess noise being reported at the Bradworthy wind farm site.Torridge district council was made aware of the problem, and parish councillors were told at their last meeting it had finally been resolved. Residents had complained of excess noise coming from the site at Forestmoor which is home to North Devon’s first set of wind turbines. Torridge said the environmental protection team was contacted by the parish council and one of its officers visited the site confirming noise levels were higher than normal. The council got in touch with turbine operators, Energie Kontor, and carried out follow-up visits. Both the district and parish councils say noise levels have now returned to normal.

RESIDENTS said "no" to proposals for 16 more wind turbines in Deeping St Nicholas. Villagers spoke out at a special meeting of Deeping St Nicholas Parish Council, which was called to give a reaction to proposals at Church Farm. The proposals, made by Spanish renewable energy giant Iberdrola, would add to the existing eight turbines, taking the number in the village to 24. Jane Davis, who has faced sleepless nights due to low frequency noise from the turbines, said: "They don't really understand how these large wind turbines interact with each other in a flat landscape. The research just hasn't been done.

Consent for a small wind farm development in Norfolk has been quashed by the High Court and sent back to Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly for reconsideration after a judge agreed that a planning condition about noise was “unenforceable and imprecise”. The two-turbine Ecotricity scheme at the village of Shipdham was granted permission on appeal last summer after being turned down by Breckland District Council. Two villagers who live next to the proposed wind farm site took legal action to challenge that permission. After a brief hearing, the judge, Mr Justice Lloyd Jones, approved an order - agreed between the Secretary of State, the developer and the local planning authority - quashing the permission. Now a planning inspector must decide whether to hold a third inquiry into the project, accept a redrafted noise condition or reject the proposal.

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When the Siddells moved to rural Ayrshire, they hoped for a life of peace and quiet. Now, at night, they say they can’t hear the television properly because of the wind turbines that loom over their converted steading.

FEARS Louth could become a 'forest' of wind turbines prompted town councillors to object to a plan to build the first one in the town. Nancy Stockwell wants to put up an eight metre high wind turbine in her back garden in Grimsby Road, Louth. But Coun Tony Lione said: "I'd hate to see in ten years time a forest of these things around the town. The neighbours will suffer with the noise."

A STUDY of noise generated by wind farms has found they can cause significant health problems, including stress, anxiety and depression.
Editor's Note: This article was published on August 7,2006

A STUDY of noise generated by wind farms has found they can cause significant health problems, including stress, anxiety and depression.