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Tag Archives: property value loss wind farms

MPAC report: NO effect on property values from wind turbines

22 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by Ottawa Wind Concerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

assessments Ontario, Green Energy Act, MPAC, Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, Ontario Minister of Finance, property value loss wind farm neighbours, property value loss wind farms, property values wind farms, wind farm realities

Well, what can you say about this. Realtors are telling us that buyers are saying, If I can see a turbine from the house, I’m not buying it. And Ontario-based research has shown significant property value loss for properties neighbouring wind power projects.

But the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (which reports to the Ontario Minister of Finance) says, No. No effect. No problem. No loss.

No kidding.

Read the report here but be aware it is pretty technical. It has to be, to avoid the obvious.

What MPAC left out is very interesting: they didn’t do the area prior to the Green Energy Act, where property value losses have already occurred and the market was distorted significantly, and they left off vacant lots, where the wind power developers have had to go in and buy houses that were rendered uninhabitable and were then removed. They also studied turbines 1.5 MW and larger, which again, leaves off the older turbines and the areas in Ontario where the impact has already been felt.

A number of people are offering critiques on this but here is an excellent commentary from the website Wind Farm Realities at:

http://windfarmrealities.org/mpacs-2012-study/

The MPAC study is self-serving, misleading, and obscuring of the truth. But it will serve its purpose for this government which is to quash requests for assessment reconsideration, and put a chill on legal actions and request from Assessment Review Board hearings.

Once again, the citizens of Ontario are at a disadvantage against Big Wind.

Farmers at London Farm show: NOT in favour of wind turbines

07 Friday Mar 2014

Posted by Ottawa Wind Concerns in Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

income wind farms, leasing land for wind turbines, property value loss wind farms, wind farms Ontario

Farmers object to wind turbines, survey says

By Blair Andrews
LONDON — The debate over wind turbines in Western Ontario is generating some lively opinions among farmers with a clear majority strongly opposed, a Farmers Forum survey suggests.
A random survey of 50 farmers at the London Farm Show on March 5, found that 58 % disapproved of wind turbines.
Just 20 % of survey respondents approved and 22 % were neutral on the issue. Among those who had an opinion, farmers opposed to turbines outnumbered those who approved by almost three-to-one.
Almost 80 % of those who disapprove believe the wind turbines are too costly and are an inefficient source of electricity.
“The capital cost of erecting the wind turbine in the first place is far in excess of what I would think a reasonable return on the investment would be in terms of the energy that is generated by one of those,” said Harold Jackson, a cash crop farmer from Middlesex County.
“I don’t believe the economics are there; this is a money grab,” said a Brant County cash crop farmer who noted that he has worked near wind turbines. “I believe there are health issues. I don’t care what the experts say.”
A few other farmers were concerned about losing farmland to wind turbines.
“The power belongs in the city where it’s being demanded,” said Tyler Vollmershausen, a cash crop farmer from Oxford County. “We’re on this infrastructure across the countryside and the power is being demanded in the city. Why are we producing it out here?”
“The windmills don’t belong on farmland,” said Lambton County cash crop and livestock farmer Peter Aarts. “We have solar panels but the solar panels are on the roof and nobody notices that they’re there.”
Other reasons for disapproval included decreasing farmland values, adverse health effects, their appearance, and that the issue pits farmer against farmer.
Of those who approve of wind turbines, their reasons were evenly split between generating income for the farm and producing a renewable energy source.
“I have no problem with them. It’s green energy,” said Gary Van Leeuwen, a cash crop farmer from Elgin County. “It’s pricey, but we have to look long term, not short term.”
“I am against nuclear and I’m very concerned about the storage facilities for nuclear waste in the Kincardine area,” said Huron County cash crop farmer Uli Hundt.
Middlesex County cash crop farmer Charlie Paas is planning to earn some income from a wind turbine when one is built on his farm this year.
“You can complain about changing the landscape, but you stick a house somewhere you change the landscape too,” said Paas.
“I approve of them in the right location,” said Wayne Cunningham, who likes the aspect of producing green energy.
But the Wellington County cash crop farmer echoed some of the concerns of those who disapprove.
“I don’t approve of them going into prime farmland. We’re losing too much agricultural land every year.”

Read the full story here

London School of Economics study finds property value loss near wind power

26 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by Ottawa Wind Concerns in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

American Wind Energy Association, Ben Hoen, Canadian Wind Energy Association, Green Energy Act, property value loss North Gower, property value loss wind farms, property values wind farm neighbours

Research in Ontario on values of properties neighbouring wind power projects show a a range of loss on the order of 20-48%, as has been reported here.

The London School of Economics is about to publish a study based on transaction for properties near 150 wind “farms” studied over a 12-year period, which finds significant value loss.

Property value loss has been a hot-button issue for the wind power lobby, probably because it is proveable, and is a negative side effect of wind power projects, which can be very invasive in communities. The study is a sharp contrast to studies done by Ben Hoen in the United States, usually at the behest of and with funding from the wind power lobby. Mr Hoen famously produced a study claiming to have looked at over 7,000 properties—that was roundly criticized by people who know something about real property (Sunak & Madlener, Wilson, more).

This is just a preliminary news story; we look forward to reading the whole study on its release.

Property value loss in North Gower due to the proximity of the huge wind turbines (over 500 feet in height) to 1,000 homes, is estimated to be $134 million.

Donations to help us with legal advice are welcome; send to PO Box 3, North Gower ON  K0A 2T0

Proof wind turbines take thousands off your home: Value of houses within 1.2 miles of large wind farms slashed by 11%, study finds

  • Study by LSE found value of homes close to wind farms slashed by 11%
  • Home that costs £250,000 would lose £27,000 in value
  • Homes as far at two-and-a-half miles away could be reduced by 3%

By Sanchez Manning

PUBLISHED: 23:59 GMT, 25 January 2014 | UPDATED: 15:45 GMT, 26 January 2014

The presence of wind turbines  near homes has wiped tens of thousands of pounds off their value, according to the first major study into the impact the eyesore structures have on house prices.

The study by the London School  of Economics (LSE) – which looked at more than a million sales of properties close to wind farm sites over a 12-year period – found that values of homes within 1.2  miles of large wind farms were being slashed by about 11 per cent.

This means that if such a wind farm were near an average house  in Britain, which now costs almost £250,000, it would lose more than £27,000 in value.

Homes located within 1.2miles of wind farms can decrease in value by up to 11 per cent, a study has discovered

+2

Homes located within 1.2miles of wind farms can decrease in value by up to 11 per cent, a study has discovered

In sought-after rural idylls where property prices are higher, the financial damage is even more substantial. In villages around one of Southern England’s largest onshore developments – Little Cheyne Court Wind Farm in Romney Marsh,  Kent, where homes can cost close to £1 million – house values could drop by more than £100,000.

The study further discovered that even a small wind farm that blighted views would hit house values.

Homes within half a mile of such visible turbines could be reduced in value by about seven per cent.

Even those in a two-and-a-half-mile radius experienced price reductions of around three per cent.

Homes within a two-and-a-half mile radius could see reductions of up to three per cent

+2

Homes within a two-and-a-half mile radius could see reductions of up to three per cent

The report’s author, Professor Steve Gibbons, said his research was the first strong evidence that wind farms are harmful to house prices.

MORE ‘GREEN C**P’ TO BE CUT AS CARBON TAX IS SLASHED

Green taxes are set to be frozen to reduce soaring energy bills.

Whitehall sources say the Government is preparing to put the brakes on the ‘carbon tax’ on greenhouse-gas emissions, with an announcement expected in the Budget in March.

Prime Minister David Cameron has reportedly instructed aides to ‘get rid of all this green c**p’ to reduce energy bills, which currently average £1,350 a year.

Prof Gibbons, director of the LSE’s Spatial Economics Research Centre, said: ‘Property prices are going up in places where they’re not visible and down in the places where they are.’

The study, which is still in draft form but is due to be published  next month, focused on 150 wind-farm sites across England and Wales. It compared house-price changes in areas that had wind farms, were about to see one built  or had seen one rejected by the  local authority.

Last night Chris-Heaton Harris, MP for Daventry, said: ‘There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence – especially in my constituency – of house-price reductions near wind turbines. The question is, will anybody be liable for these losses in future?’

And Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the LSE, said: ‘These results are not really surprising as it is already known that people place a value on countryside views.’

A Department for Energy and Climate Change spokesman said: ‘Developments will only get permission where impacts are acceptable.’

A spokesman for Renewables UK, which represents the wind industry, said: ‘We will be analysing the conclusions closely when the final report is issued.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2546042/Proof-wind-turbines-thousands-home-value-homes-1-2-miles-wind-farms-slashed-11-cent-study-finds.html#ixzz2rY3hVqyg
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Prowind being sued by Woodstock area residents for $28 million

26 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by Ottawa Wind Concerns in Health, Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

cost-benefit analysis wind power, Eric Gillespie, Gunn's Hill wind farm, law suits property owners, Marlborough wind far, property value loss wind farms, Prowind Canada

Residents of Norwich Township near Woodstock Ontario have decided that legal action is the best way to protect their community from property value loss and potential health problems related to the environmental noise and vibration produced by large-scale wind turbines.

In a news release dated today, the community members say they are filing a “draft” of the intended legal action, demanding $28 million; the legal action is directed at Prowind Canada, Gunn’s Hill Wind Farm, and the property owners leasing land for the wind power project.

Prowind Canada developed a power project just south of Ottawa at Brinston, which it sold to EDP Renewables, and is the developer responsible for the Marlborough wind power project near North Gower and Richmond in the City of Ottawa.

Toronto-based environmental lawyer Eric Gillespie is acting for the Norwich area residents; he can be reached at 416-436-7473.

Gillespie is also the lawyer for Ottawa Wind Concerns, which objects to the Marlborough project, within 3 km of more than 1,000 area homes. The Marlborough project, if it proceeds, could reduce property values for nearby homes by $134 million.

ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com

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