A Wind Farm Developer has had to drop a claim that Wind Farms did not lower house prices.
A leaflet which was printed by an industry leading body RenewableUk has been withdrawn after a local resident contacted the Advertising Standards Authority. The leaflet which was handed out at a consultation on Wind Prospects Mount Lothian development in Penicuik has been officially withdrawn after Celia Hobbs, a local resident, alerted the ASA that they were misleadingly telling the public that house prices would not be affected by the proposal to build 12 high power wind turbines.
She included in the complaint two articles which showed that house prices were indeed effected by a new wind farm development. One article detailed how an estate agent took into consideration wind farm plans before selling properties nearby and the other was a report on how houses near a wind farm in Suffolk were pushed down a tax band as consequence.
Celia Hobbs, a member of of the Penicuik Environment Protection Association, told The Daily Telegraph:
“It is plain common sense that if you could choose between two properties, one in open countryside and one next to a motorway or railway line or airport or a whirling 100 metre high machine you would choose the one in open countryside.”
“I am delighted with this result from the ASA after years of trying to wake people up to the misrepresentations of the renewables industry.”
A spokesperson from RenewableUk told The Daily Telegraph:
” [no conclusive evidence to show that] wind farms or wind turbines had any long–term detrimental effect on house prices”
He continued to say “many communities benefited from wind farms through large sums of money going into the community pot”.
The whole article can be viewed on The Daily Telegraphs Website.