A chartered surveyor has disputed another expert’s “extraordinary” view that noise nuisance from a Co Wexford wind farm could devalue a nearby four-bedroom property by up to €120,000 or 44 per cent.
Tom Corr said the appropriate devaluation figure for the €400,000 Hill House property was €25,000 or 7 per cent.
The current lack of housing supply means purchasers must compromise and might mean no drop in value due to noise nuisance from a turbine at Ballyduff Windfarm at Kilcomb, near Enniscorthy, he added.
A valuation expert hired on behalf of Keith Rollo and Margaret Webster, joint owners of Hill House, has assessed noise nuisance could mean a €120,000 or 44 per cent devaluation.
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However, Mr Corr, on behalf of the wind farm operator, described that level of devaluation as “extraordinary”.
In reaching his findings, he took research and comparators into account and placed himself in the shoes of a potential purchaser who he believed would not go into “forensic” detail about the court’s judgment that wind turbine noise caused a nuisance in relation to Hill House and another nearby property.
The fact wind turbines have become bigger in size may be relevant, he said. It would be difficult now to buy a home similar to Hill House for €400,000, he added.
He also considered his 6 to 7 per cent devaluation figure for a nearby property owned by Ross Shorten and Joan Carty, of Grange Road, Rathfarnham, Dublin, until they sold it in August 2021 for €295,000, was accurate.
He was influenced by evidence from the purchaser of their property, who had said she could tolerate the wind turbine noise. His view was the market value of that property in 2021 and 2022, taking the wind farm into account, was respectively €318,000 and €360,000.
Mr Corr gave evidence on Thursdayin a continuing hearing to assess damages for Mr Rollo, Ms Webster, Mr Shorten and Ms Carty, over noise nuisance from one of the two wind turbines at the Ballyduff wind farm.
All four plaintiffs sued wind farm operator Meenacloghspar (Wind) Limited, which has a registered address at Stillorgan Road, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, seeking orders restraining or restricting its operations and damages for nuisance.
Represented by John Rogers, instructed by solicitors Noonan Linehan Carroll Coffey, they claimed their sleep was disrupted, their mental health suffered and their properties were devalued due to noise, vibration and shadow flicker. The claims were denied.
In her landmark March 2024 judgment on the cases, the first private nuisance claim for wind turbine noise to run here, the judge held the noise levels amounted to “unreasonable interference”.
Last month, she said she would grant an injunction restricting the turbine’s operation. She adjourned the case to this week to hear arguments on the level of damages that should be awarded to the plaintiffs for the nuisance impact.
The claim includes a sum of about €1 million to enable Mr Rollo, who is living in rented accommodation since March 2021 after separating from Ms Webster, to buy or build a home similar to Hill House. Now aged 51, Mr Rollo claims the noise nuisance caused a breakdown of his mental health, relationship and chance to have a family.
The evidence concluded on Thursday. The judge will hear legal submissions next month.
