The couple has lived in the farm for six years, about as long as the windmills have been turning. Before they came to live there, they even consciously listened to windmills to hear the sound they make. “Then it wasn’t that bad,” says Bea. “You just heard a quiet spin, you get used to that.”
But they don’t recognize this sound from anywhere else, says Arie. “We were told: these are silent windmills. Well, I haven’t heard this cracking anywhere else.”
Several residents in the area are said to have the same complaints. Yet Arie thinks that not everyone reports it. “Not that many people live here and many people don’t know where to report.”
The reports have also been reported at Drentse Monden Oostermoer Wind Farm. Spokesman Elzo Springer says that research into the noise has been conducted several times in the past period.
“Noise reports were received from time to time across the board,” he says. “Adjustments were made to various turbines and that helped in other places. An adjustment was also made to this turbine at the end of February, but that did not solve the problem.”
According to Springer, it is difficult to determine the cause, because the noise only occurs under certain circumstances. “It is strongly related to wind direction and wind speed. Technicians often go to take a look and they hear nothing. That is why we ask local residents to report exactly when the noise occurs, so that we can compare that data. It is a puzzle, but a lot of technical research is being done.”
Springer understands that it takes a long time for residents. “I understand that people think: is something going to happen? But we are hopeful that we will get out of it.”
Meanwhile, Arie looks again towards the turbine behind his garden. Yesterday it turned slowly. But the weather forecast is already in his head.
“They’re giving up northeasterly winds again,” he says. “Then you immediately think: here we go again.”
