Family ‘demented’ by wind turbine noise

A West Clare mother who looks after an adult son with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has claimed her life has been “turned upside down” following the erection of a 19.6m agricultural wind turbine in a neighbouring property.

Mary Coffey claims this turbine has had a devastating impact on her son, Brian (23). The turbine, which is in full view of his bedroom, has affected his sleep and he will no longer use a sunroom, which was built to allow him some space and cost €12,000, because he is afraid of the turbine and is very distressed by the noise.
She says their life has been “turned upside down” because Brian has been very badly affected by the turbine and keeps asking his parents when will they take it away. Any time a person comes to the house, Brian presumes they are there to take away the turbine, which he is frightened of.
The young man, who also suffers from epilepsy, regularly runs from the car into the house once he sees the wind turbine is still in place.
Other residents in Carrowncalla South, Kilrush have also expressed concern about the construction of a 19.6m wind turbine on land owned by Michael Clair.
His wife, Eileen Clair declined to comment on any of the claims made by local residents when contacted by The Clare Champion.
On October 20 last, Clare County Council ruled that this structure was an exempted development and didn’t require planning permission after Michael and Eileen Clair, c/o Annette Stanford, Architects and Interior Architects, Sunnyside Heights, Kilkee requested a declaration on this structure.
Wind turbine specification submitted by Stanford Architects stated the turbine has to be located 30.4m from any party boundary, 87m from the north boundary, 45m from the south boundary, 45m from the east boundary and 74.5m from the west boundary.
Resident Senan Murphy estimates the turbine is located about 120m from the Coffey home.
Apart from one of the 10 conditions, which relates to signage on wind turbines on an agricultural holding, the council has stated the owners are complying with the regulations.
Clare County Council has confirmed the developer has indicated that they will remove the signage at the next servicing.
Mary says there are times they can’t open the windows because of the noise and queried are they supposed to leave blinds closed during the summer.
She insists she has great respect for all of her neighbours and wouldn’t have erected a wind turbine like this, which could have adversely affected them.
Mary says she is demented from the noise and visual intrusive nature of the turbine and recently spent a night with Brian in a Cork hotel to get some “peace and quiet”.
According to a letter from their family GP, the erection of a wind turbine at the back of Brian’s home is causing him great upset.
“He is extremely frightened of it and it is preventing him from sleeping at night. His family are fearful of the long term consequences of this upset and that it may aggravate his condition,” the GP stated.
Residents Senan Murphy and Kathleen Boland can’t understand why Mr Clair didn’t erect the turbine at the other side of his house where there are no neighbouring houses nearby, avoiding the alleged nuisance for four residents.
The householders have already complained to the council about noise, shadow flicker and overall nuisance. They believe the turbine could have been located elsewhere on the holding, which is approximately 45 acres and shouldn’t be encroaching on residents’ amenities as they are not getting a direct benefit or gain from it.
Mr Murphy describes the noise as a “whosh whosh” sound, which isn’t constant and gets louder on occasion during high wind, making it much harder to adjust to.
“People don’t realise the impact of these turbines until it is erected near your home. If it was a sheet of plastic making a flapping sound in a neighbouring house, you would pull it off but it seems this turbine is here to stay,” he said.
Ms Boland has expressed concern that the turbine is affecting a young adult with special needs and will devalue their properties.
They claimed there was no consultation with any of the residents before this turbine was erected and proposed the minimum distances between residential properties and agricultural turbines should be increased.
C&F, who installed the turbine, has recently received MCS and global certification for their range of wind turbines. MCS is the UK’s stringent performance and noise test for wind turbines, conducted to international IEC standards over six months testing.
C&F turbines underwent a rigorous testing process, performing flawlessly during the recent extreme storm conditions, to achieve this certification. The company has invested heavily in creating a machine that utilises mega watt technology to maximise performance and safety.
According to C&F Green Energy sales manager, Sean Ganley, the turbines offer unrivalled low noise levels, clean aesthetics, low visual impact, and remote monitoring systems that enable our machines to consistently stand up to the toughest weather conditions.
“When we set out to build a wind turbine, it wasn’t just a machine to compete with what was there, we set out to build the machine of the future – a low noise, beautifully designed turbine to last a lifetime in all conditions and with performance to supersede the competition. This is a guaranteed Irish product built for Irish conditions.”
“This is the first complaint after about 400 installations of our product worldwide. We will look at Mrs Coffey’s issues and intend to visit her to discuss her complaints. Our wind turbines are sited to be a suitable distance from neighbouring property and in a position that optimises performance.
“We have not heard of any issues relating to the acoustics of our machines, we have the quietest turbines in class and they meet the most stringent planning requirements in Ireland and the UK. We install machines in the UK where no other manufacturers unit can pass the acoustic and visual planning regulations,” he said.