Wind farm operator appeals €300,000 payout to neighbours over noise nuisance

High Court Reporter

A wind farm operator is appealing a ruling requiring it to pay more than €300,000 damages for nuisance caused to its neighbours.

Judge Emily Egan’s decision from 2024 was the first in Ireland or the UK to find wind turbine noise levels amounted to “unreasonable interference” with locals’ enjoyment of their properties.

Last May, the judge placed restrictions on the operation of Ballyduff Windfarm at Kilcomb in Co Wexford, including ordering the shutdown of one of the facility’s two turbines during certain hours.

In a new judgment this month, Justice Egan agreed to defer an order requiring Donnybrook-based operator Meenacloghspar (Wind) Limited to pay out damages to the four plaintiffs in two separate cases.

]The pause to the payment order is to last until the determination of Meenacloghspar’s appeal of her decisions in the actions.

The two cases were brought by Margaret Webster and her ex-partner Keith Rollo, who live close to the wind farm; and Ross Shorten and Joan Carty, who owned a property near to the turbines but sold it in 2021.

In its intended appeal, Meenacloghspar will allege the High Court erred legally and factually in a range of its findings.

It wants an appellate court to form a different view on liability and to overturn the finding of nuisance. It also claims the court erred in granting a permanent injunction restraining the operation of one of the turbines.

The company needed the High Court’s permission to appeal its rulings to the Court of Appeal and it asked for a pause to the damages payment order and to the injunction.

Although she had “serious reservations concerning the arguability” of Meenacloghspar’s intended grounds, the judge permitted it to appeal her rulings.

She noted the company is prepared to pay interest on the damages to the four plaintiffs in the event its appeal fails. None of the plaintiffs demonstrated they would be willing or able to repay the awards if Meenacloghspar wins, she said.

In refusing to pause her injunction restraining operation of one of the turbines during certain hours, the judge noted only Margaret Webster continues to live near the turbines. She said exposing Webster to the nuisance for a longer period of time would be “unjust” and damages would not be an adequate remedy.

However, to “minimise the financial loss and the consequent risk of injustice” to Meenacloghspar, she granted a stay on the payment of damages to all four plaintiffs.

As part of a pilot project BreakingNews.ie has used AI to suggest headline options for this article. The final headline was chosen and edited by BreakingNews.ie journalists. Find out more