HOW "NOISY" IS A WIND TURBINE?

Answer: Not Very.

Okay, if you happen to be 80 metres off the ground and right next to the nacelle (or gear hub), it might be about as loud as a lawnmower. So in that respect, the crazed nimbies of Stop Bridgnorth Wind Farm weren't far wrong. Except that nobody is going to be 80 metres up in the air right next to the hub, are they?

No - most people will be so far away that they can't actually hear the turbine(s) at all. Try it for yourself. Go to a windfarm. You'll be pleasantly surprised, if not amazed, at how quiet they are.

Anyone who tells you they're "noisy" is either (a) ignorant, or (b) a liar.

For all practical purposes, even those living closest to a windfarm - say, upwards of half-a-kilometre away - will hear nothing louder than a domestic fridge. And that's at the uppermost end of the noise spectrum where windfarms are concerned. Pretty much the whole of the time, those living even just 500 metres from the nearest turbine will experience a sound output that is less than that of a modern domestic fridge.

A quick trip to your nearest electrical and white goods retail outlet should prove this. Many new fridges and fridge-freezers have stickers on them telling you how many decibels they put out. Usually, it's 40 or 42 decibels.

That's about the maximum legal noise output of a windfarm when measured from the nearest residence.

Remember all those idiotic stories - still put about by lying nimbies - about windfarms being "deafening" and keeping you awake all night?

Well, if you've got a fridge in your house, you've already got something that makes more noise than a turbine. And if your fridge doesn't keep you awake at night, then there's no reason why a wind turbine should.

So - are the manic nimbies of Middle England going to start campaigning fanatically and dishonestly against domestic appliances on the grounds that they're "too noisy"? After all, look at where the vacuum cleaner appears on the image above.

So, are they? Are the nimby nutters going to start being realistic, do you think, and admitting that there are many workaday items in the home which are considerably noisier than wind turbines - and that at least one of them (the fridge) is on all the time, all through the night, and never gives rise to complaints about noise?

Do you think that might happen? Do you think that the barking anti-windpower morons will actually see sense, get things into perspective and try a little honesty for a change?

Will they put out garish propaganda warning you about the health effects of the noise emanating from your fridge (louder than a wind turbine!!)?

Probably not.