Owners of Le Château de Flers v La Compagnie du Vent
Tribunal de Grande in Montpellier |September 17, 2013
Tribunal de Grande in Montpellier in France found that the visual and audible impacts of an operating wind facility on the owners of the Eighteenth Century Château de Flers in the northern French province of Nord-Pas-de-Calais were unreasonable and ordered the ten turbines be removed. A summary of the Tribunal's ruling is provided below. The full order can be found by clicking the link(s) on this page.
Tribunal de Grande in Montpellier in France found that the visual and audible impacts of an operating wind facility on the owners of the Eighteenth Century Château de Flers in the northern French province of Nord-Pas-de-Calais were unreasonable and ordered the ten turbines be removed. A summary of the Tribunal's ruling is provided below. The full order can be found by clicking the link(s) on this page.
The court relied upon examples of nuisance. In particular –
1. An aesthetic harm which took the form of environmental degradation of a rural landscape.
2. Noise pollution caused by the humming and whistling noises coming from the wind turbines.
3. Visual pollution caused by the blinking of red and white lights every two seconds, 24 hours a day.
In the Court’s opinion, this constant, unnatural and insufferable situation created a prejudice which went beyond the normal inconveniences to be expected from one’s neighbors and, thus were a violation of the plaintiffs’ property rights.
The Court ordered that the defendant remove ten of the wind turbines within four months; after this time a penalty of €500 per turbine, per day would be payable. The defendant was also ordered to pay the plaintiffs €37,500for the harm experienced since June 2007.