VCAT Commissioners confirm evidence of damage to sleep and health from operating wind turbines

The Waubra Foundation has issued a media release related to remarks made by an Environmental Planning Tribunal in Victoria, Australia, in a recent statement and preliminary report on a proposed industrial wind project (previously noted on WCO here)

VCAT Commissioners confirm evidence of damage to sleep and health from operating wind turbines | Wind Energy News: 

Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal Commissioners, Mr M Wright QC and Mr A Liston have made the following remarks in orders given on 4th April, 2013.¹ Paragraphs 116-118 of their orders state the following:"

There is evidence before the Tribunal that a number of people living close to wind farms suffer deleterious health effects. The evidence is both direct and anecdotal. There is a uniformity of description of these effects across a number of wind farms, both in southeast Australia and North America. Residents complain of suffering sleep disturbance, feelings of anxiety upon awakening, headaches, pressure at the base of the neck and in the head and ears, nausea and loss of balance.
In some cases the impacts have been of such gravity that residents have been forced to abandon their homes.
On the basis of this evidence it is clear that some residents who live in close proximity to a wind farm experience the symptoms described, and that the experience is not simply imagined.

“The Commissioners have made a pragmatic and carefully considered decision to wait until more information is available about the damage to sleep and health from the larger wind turbines similar to those being proposed at Infigen’s Cherry Tree Wind Development, and will reconsider the available evidence in six months time” stated the Waubra Foundation’s CEO, Dr Sarah Laurie. “They are obviously taking the health concerns very seriously, as they should be.²

Download the entire media release from the Waubra Foundation 
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