Wind Submissions, Planning section, Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Custom House, Dublin !

"o #hom it concerns,

$ believe that is imperative that any revie# of the Guidelines also e%amines all economic, social and environmental issues of #ind and grid planning and development! &n e%amination and resolution of these issues is a prere'uisite to any location, setbac(, noise, flic(er discussion! $n my opinion the government has failed in its reassessment of the guidelines based on the narro# focus of the revie#! Setbac( Setbac( should be determined by factors identified as issues in the sustainability assessment! )or e%ample setbac( #ill be influenced by the social costs of a development! "hese costs include monetised values such as lo#ering of property *land and housing+ values *Heint,elman and "uttle, -. -+ as #ell as /non0monetised1 e%ternalities such as noise *2issenbaum et al!, -. -+, shado# flic(er *Harding et al!, -..3+, the loss of amenities and visual destruction of the landscape *Ladenburg and Lut,eyer, -. -+! 4esidents of rural housing in the immediate vicinity of the proposed #ind farm sites en5oy a #ide range of amenities that contribute to residential property values in this area such as high natural and scenic value, 'uiet rural environment, and freedom from significant industrial or non0rural activity! Property 6alues "here is increasing recognition of the negative impacts of #ind farms on nearby houses! $n particular, Linconlshire 6aluation "ribunal *-7-7897:87;.<-C and -7-7897:7 ;.<-C+ upheld an appeal to do#ngrade a d#elling to a lo#er council ta% band due to the pro%imity of a #ind farm #hich #as =<.m from the house in 'uestion! "he findings of the appeal e%plicitly states >Case la# and e%perience else#here had sho#n that d#ellings #hich #ere located in close pro%imity to #ind farms had seen their property prices drop by around -.?!@ "he stated (ey ob5ective 7!:! of the Guideline aims, >to see( to achieve a balance bet#een the protection of residential amenity of neighboring communities in the vicinity of #ind energy developments, and facilitation of the meeting of national rene#able energy targets@! Ho#ever, #e believe that a (ey ob5ective should be the protection of sleep! Sleep is a human right, not an amenity as stated and cannot be protected by a 8.dA absolute limit! 2oise

$ #ould consider it mandatory that the Government ma(e it a re'uirement in the issuance of guidelines to planning authorities that a thorough impact of sound be commissioned on the #ider community! $ believe it #ould be more appropriate to re'uire the implementation of the Danish statutory re'uirement that lo# fre'uency noise #ould not e%ceed -.dA *&+ inside a d#elling any time of day or night! "he proposed guideline limit of 8.dA*&+ is also at the top end of the limit recommended in the Barshall Day report commissioned by SE&$ *-. <+, #here a limit of bet#een <7dA*&+ and 8.dA*&+ is recommended! 8.d*A+ is also higher than any of the other 5urisdictions in the Barshall Day report, once the limits are ad5usted to bring them into line #ith L&=., as opposed to L&EC, #hich is assumed to be -dA higher! $f an absolute limit is to be used, it should be at the lo#er end of the limit, because of the relentless noise generated by #ind turbines! Dther#ise, it #ould be better to use a relative limit #hich ta(es into account the 'uiet nature of many locations #here it is proposed to build Wind "urbines! Shado# )lic(er
"he strategy points out that shado# flic(er >occurs inside buildings@ it ma(e no provision for the occurrence of flic(er on the open country side! Surely consideration should be given to the potential distracting and da,,ling effect that this #ill have on drivers and other road users, amenity users and #ildlife as #ell as livestoc( and domestic animals! "his point is very clearly illustrated in the follo#ing video #hich #as filmed in Wisconsin, ES& and it spea(s for itself!

httpF;;###!youtube!com;#atchGvHBb$e.iEtelC $mpacts on &utistic Children living in the vicinity of the site! & survey by Davis and Steigler *-. .+ of over 9,... children #ho have &utistic Spectrum Disorders *&SD+ sho#s that over 8.? #ere >hypersensitive to sounds@ and that >noise sensitivity is a particular problem@ for children #ith &SD! $ #ould consider it mandatory that the Government ma(e it a re'uirement in the issuance of guidelines to planning authorities that a thorough impact on autistic children be assessed! $ hope that the government #ill ta(e cognisance of our observations and in particular our opinion regarding the limited scope of this revision! Iours faithfully,