"I was waking up with headaches, so we're getting out of here." (Australia)
Jul 19, 2009
Print Article“Noel Dean owns a farm at Waubra that he says is surrounded by wind turbines owned by Acciona Energy. He says he and his wife Janine started experiencing health problems when the turbines were switched on. ‘I was waking up with headaches, so I said to Janine, “we’re getting out of here.” So we came to Ballarat,’ he said.”
“Wind turbine noise forces couple out”
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ABC NEWS
July 15, 2009
Noel Dean owns a farm at Waubra that he says is surrounded by wind turbines owned by Acciona Energy. He says he and his wife Janine started experiencing health problems when the turbines were switched on.
“I was waking up with headaches, so I said to Janine, ‘we’re getting out of here,’ so we came to Ballarat,” he said.
Cassie Franzose is the chairwoman of the Western Plains Landscape Guardians.
She says the Deans are not alone.
“People are really beginning to see what sort of impact this has on the residents in the area as well as on the landscape,” she said.
Wind farm opponents from the central and western regions will meet in Ballan tonight.
Acciona Energy has issued a statement saying the Waubra Wind Farm complies with government noise level standards.
Comment by Frank Campbell on 07/28/2009 at 5:51 am
Windfarm syndrome is now well-known in Britain and western Europe generally. Health effects can be severe. There is a growing body of medical research.
It is an absolute disgrace that windfarms were forced on Waubra. My partner and I were abused repeatedly by beneficiaries in 2004 when we held up two placards outside the propaganda session held by the wind company. Waubra residents were threatened with violence. A meeting was held in the local hall to oppose the windfarm proposal. Ted Baillieu attended as opposition planning spokesman. I was addressing the meeting when the police walked in: “bomb threat.” The hall was cleared and we reconvened at the pub. Meanwhile, Melissa Fyffe of The Age reported the windfarm as being welcomed by all in Waubra. Utterly false.
Windfarms cause great distress to those who have to listen to the constant throbbing and whooshing of infrasound. Their lives are ruined. Like a rock concert, the low frequency sound penetrates anything.
And why? Windfarms produce pathetically little power at great cost. They kill birds and bats. 40,000 tons of concrete went into the Waubra windfarm, as bases for the 120m towers to sit on. Hundreds of square kilometres were effectively ruined by the windfarm, yet the govt. wants to cover western Victoria with them. 5 years I warned that the government’s secret plan was to convert inland Western Victoria into a windfarm province. Now it’s official. They know full well this will cost many jobs, slash property prices and drive people mad. They literally don’t give a damn.
The power is useless. No conventional power station can be switched off because wind is totally unreliable. At best 20 or 25% of capacity is all turbines can manage, and this is generated when we need it least, i.e., when it’s hot or cold, the wind is usually weak or nonexistent. That’s peak demand. So the cynicism of the govt. is driven by politics: wind turbines generate political power, not electrical power. They want the urban green vote. I’m a rural green and despise this government.
Windfarms must be stopped at any cost. From a greenhouse gas point of view they are a fraud.
Comment by Ashley Covert on 08/01/2009 at 12:23 pm
I live in a small rural town, of just above 900 people. We just had a company by Florida Power and Light (FPL) make a propsal that was passed in my community. They have torn up my road and opened a well that was shut down over a decade or two ago due to ARSENIC.
From what i have been told by a neighbor that lives near that well, FPL are taking their trucks and using that water on our road. There has to be a big health risk with that. Many people in the community have contacted the county zoning and they assure us that there is no health risk with them putting the water on the road.
Also, the substation for this health hazzard and eye sore will be exactly 1700 feet out my back door. So, from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. all we hear all day long is the beep beep beep of the cunstruction. With every beep my family’s heart sinks more. Also, my town has a state park where there is a engangered migartory path. No one has said a thing about all the innocent animals that will be harmed due to these inefficeint giants.
Most of the people in my county are unaware of the dangers that these things pose. They are all caught up in this green moment and have not done any research about the hazzards that wind turbines produce.
Since my village is so small, we only have two board memebers on the county board. All but one board memeber voted for this monsterous thing to happen in our township.
Also, since i am a farmer’s daughter i know that there are tiles in the ground. Tiles are used to keep their fields from flooding. These tiles are at least a 5 feet under the ground and cost major money to build and repair. Now, you cannot tell me that when they dig into the gound they are not damaging these tiles. Also, They mowed down over 2,200 acres of corn and soy beans. The farmers that did not sell the land to FPL did not get any compensation for the crop that they lost. According to the Standard Journal, it costs over $5,000 to farm one acre of land. That is a total lost of over $11,000,000. Many of the people in my area rent their land due to the hardships of the many recessions that our country has faced, so now they have lost all the money that they have put into the ground. Some of the farmers that rent the land had it sold out right from under them in a result of greed. How are these farmers supposed to support their families now?
I am a 20 year old college student, and have chosen to do a persuasive speech on Wind turbines. I hope that i am able to educate my peers that think wind turbines are a great idea.
Comment by richard on 08/27/2009 at 7:10 am
I have seen with my own eyes the measurement of low frequency noise being emitted from the Waubra windfarm.
The fact that the government has ignored this and conspired to sweep it under the carpet, as evidenced by the email they have out to many who contacted them to alert them of the problem, is just as bad. They have used statements in their email that come from people who are not qualified in the medical field or accoustics, and yet are quoting them as experts!
This injustice needs to be stopped. It’s not just those who suffer from WTS; it’s everyone else who must pay for this con in their electricity bill.