Nobody’s Fools: Angry Locals Reject Wind Power Outfit’s Massive Cash-For-Silence Deal

No one in their right mind sells their souls, but that’s what wind developers attempt to purchase on a daily basis.

Leases with farmers who ‘host’ the turbines and so-called “good neighbour” agreements with their neighbours who would otherwise suffer the torment from incessant turbine generated low-frequency noise and infrasound without any compensation for their misery, all contain bullet proof gag clauses. Contractual terms designed to prevent any complaint or criticism of the wind power outfit in question, any of its activities, its wind turbines, the noise and shadow flicker they generate, anywhere, anytime, at all, ever.

Good neighbour agreements are a standard form and provide for the same result: you the neighbour are paid around $5-8,000 per year in exchange for which you relinquish every statutory and common law right you possess (including the ability to sue for noise nuisance) and are bound to never, ever talk about the agreement, or your eternal self-inflicted suffering.

At a distance of 1,000m to 2,000m from 3MW turbines, your home will be practically uninhabitable (and, therefore, worthless), outside that distance your home will still be uncomfortable and you’ll still face long-term sleep deprivation: high levels of low-frequency noise and infrasound have been measured inside homes out to 8.7km from 3MW Vestas V90s at Waterloo in SA (see our post here).

The Gares, South Australian farmers paid $200,000 per year to host 19 2MW Suzlon S88s, people who would know, wouldn’t buy a house within 20km of a wind farm: SA Farmers Paid $1 Million to Host 19 Turbines Tell Senate they “Would Never Do it Again” due to “Unbearable” Sleep-Destroying Noise

An example of a developer’s gag contract is available here: Wind Farm BS Deed_DI_opt

These days, though, locals are unlikely to be taken for fools.

In Dumfries, Scotland, seven local families faced with the threat of 44 giant industrial wind turbines being speared into their community were quietly approached by the wind power outfit concerned and offered each family £100,000 to sign their lives away. As is standard practice, the cash came with an almighty catch: the families would never be able to complain or bring legal proceedings seeking injunctions or damages from the operator for the inevitable noise nightmare these things generate.

Well-aware of what was in store for them, the potential victims all rejected the £100,000 they were each offered, on the basis that their right to enjoy a peaceful existence and to live comfortably in their own homes, was worth a whole lot more than that.

Kevin Duguid outlines what promises to be an almighty Highland showdown.

‘BUY SILENCE’ Wind farm chiefs ‘offered Scots homeowners more than £100k each’ not to oppose to 44-turbine site, it’s been claimed
The Scottish Sun
Kevin Duguid
17 Oct 2021

Wind farm chiefs offered seven homeowners more than £100,000 each not to object to a planned 44- turbine site, it is claimed.

Seven residents stood to receive an annual payment of £3,000 during the 35-year lifespan of a the Sanquhar II project proposed by energy firm Community Windpower.

But documents reveal that in return for a “contribution” to annual energy costs, residents would agree “not to make any complaint or raise an action for statutory nuisance or common law nuisance against the company whatsoever”.

Residents would have been sworn to secrecy over the scheme, proposed for the border of Dumfries and Galloway and East Ayrshire, under a non-disclosure clause.

But none accepted the deal.

A homeowner who fears they would spoil his views said he refused 35 yearly “contributions” of £3,000 over the farm’s lifespan.

He said: “No money would replace the scenery and views of the area. Community Windpower were attempting to buy our silence.”

The Sanquhar II wind farm will consist of 44 turbines, most of them 200m tall.

Details of the financial offer will be aired this week at a public inquiry into the Sanquhar proposal.

Oliver Mundell, the Scottish Conservative MSP for Dumfriesshire, said there is “suspicion” that cash offers are widespread.

He added: “It looks as though this particular company is keen to game the planning system and this could be the tip of the iceberg.

‘Hugely Disappointing’
“At a time when we are constantly being told about the benefits of green energy, it is hugely disappointing that the actions of this company have put a black mark against the renewables sector.”

A lawyer familiar with onshore wind schemes in Scotland said “cash inducements” are becoming more common as industrial-scale turbines creep closer to residential dwellings due to a lack of suitable land.

Campaigners fighting a rapid government-backed expansion of onshore wind claim that developers are riding roughshod over rural communities who often find they lack the money, expertise and legal support of energy firms.

Submissions to a parliamentary petition calling for greater support for affected communities include complaints that lawyers acting for energy firms have bullied objectors and “assassinated” their characters during public inquiries.
The Scottish Sun