Wind report eases noise concerns

A study commissioned by the government into sound created by the country’s 133 wind farms has concluded that the occurrence of complaints about noise is low.

Acoustics researchers at Salford University investigated complaints of the noise created by aerodynamic modulation (AM), a phenomenon sometimes compared to the sound of a distant train.

By surveying all of the local authorities with wind farms in or near their areas, the team discovered that the incidents of complaints were relatively insignificant compared with complaints about other noise sources.

Based on the university’s findings, the Government Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) does not consider there to be an issue for the UK’s wind farm fleet, nor to be a compelling case for more work into AM at this time.

Dr Andy Moorhouse, who led the study, said: ‘We are not implying that individual complaints about windfarms are less important than for other types of noise, but this report confirms that wind turbine noise is a comparatively minor issue nationally in terms of the number of people affected.