AN ECO-MINDED logistics manager has defended plans to extend his wind turbine after a neighbour claimed their lives had been blighted by the “monstrosity” for a year.
Terry Reeves, 56, has applied for planning permission to extend his wind turbine from seven metres to just under 10 metres, to enable the blades to capture more wind.
The application, which goes before a planning committee tonight, was recommended for approval by Sefton Council officers.
Mr Reeves, of Cambridge Road, Formby, said none of the neighbours had approached him directly to complain and the turbine had roused curiosity from passers-by.
However, one resident on Pinewood Avenue claimed the turbine which backs on to their property could be dangerous if it fell over.
There were also concerns it would set a precedent for the rest of the area and the rows of semi-detached homes would begin to resemble an industrial estate, affecting property values.
Objections also included the current wind turbine allegedly causing flickering shadows in the neighbour’s rear living room, kitchen and rear bedrooms.
The turbine’s noise was described as an “unacceptable nuisance” that can be heard in the garden and house.
The neighbour called for it to be removed.
However, Mr Reeves, who spent £1,500 installing the turbine, dismissed protests made against the planning application.
The father-of-one, who works as a global development manager for delivery firm TNT, insisted the wind turbine made very little sound.
Mr Reeves, who moved the turbine from the roof of his house to reduce the sound, added: “I don’t know how they can hear it.”
He insisted it made both environmental and economical sense to extend the turbine.
Mr Reeves said: “I wouldn’t like to think that my grandchildren thought their grandparents’ generation was aware of the problem of global warming and didn’t do anything.
“We only have this planet on loan and it is a necessity. It is going to become more and more necessary. People want electricity – we have to find ways.”
In the summer, Mr Reeves said he was receiving electricity bills of just £2 a month, and power from the turbine and his solar panels was put back into the National Grid for his neighbours to use.
He estimated his carbon emissions had been cut by 75%.
Responding to claims that his turbine was dangerous in case it fell down, Mr Reeves said: “I don’t know how it is going to fall because there must be steel girders embedded in half a tonne of concrete.”
When planners visited his home, in September, 2008, when the first application for the turbine was filed, they said there was only a slight droning noise which they compared to the passing of a car. The report added the level of noise was acceptable and there was no evidence that raising the height would increase noise.
