Wind Farm Probs?

muincav

Hi all-
was just wondering if anyone who lives near a wind farm has been having problems with any terrestrial channels? I live in a part of Cavan where a wind farm has started and since then have been getting very bad reception on RTE 1 and 2...but some of my neighbours are having problems with all channels..
If I and others contact RTE to complain will they be able to let us know if the wind farm is the problem or not?

thanx in advance...

Foggy43

Yes! People have had problems. Sometime ago there have been threads on this issue. Kerry / Cork the problems arose. I think in one case a relay have to be erected.

Example: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055096821&referrerid=&highlight=wind+farm

conax

phone RTE and explain the situation, they will dispatch an engineer to see if it is indeed the wind farm causing the interference. but remember that this is not an RTE problem. If it is the case that the wind farm is causing the problem then with the report contact the operators of the wind farm RTE will probably have already confirmed this to them. the operators of the farm may then offer a solution to the problem as a good will gesture to the community affected. I am not sure where the legalities lie but having said that I have been involved in a number of projects where the offending companies organised and funded the recification of the disturbance without intervention from RTE.

Tony

Me too, been contacted many times by wind farm companies looking for solutions to reception problems.

gerryo

conax wrote:

phone RTE and explain the situation, they will dispatch an engineer to see if it is indeed the wind farm causing the interference. but remember that this is not an RTE problem. If it is the case that the wind farm is causing the problem then with the report contact the operators of the wind farm RTE will probably have already confirmed this to them. the operators of the farm may then offer a solution to the problem as a good will gesture to the community affected. I am not sure where the legalities lie but having said that I have been involved in a number of projects where the offending companies organised and funded the recification of the disturbance without intervention from RTE.

Is it not the same as in the UK, (where Ofcom & the BBC have joint responsibility for reception issues) do RTE & Comreg not have to get involved/investigate?

See this document http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/info/pdf/buildings_factsheet.pdf which has good information on wind farm problems.
I would expect the wind farm developer to remedy this, afterall, you paid your TV licence, RTE provided sufficient signal strength to deliver program material & now you cannot view the paid for service*

I think you have a good case (IMHO) against the windfarm.
I'm surprised there was not some sort of survey done as part of the environmental impact (or is this not required unless there are rare snails).
Maybe you'll get a free $ky installation & paid for viewing cards.
I can see this problem becoming more & more common as windfarms sprout on every hillside.

*Technically, the licence is to allow you to own a TV, but in reality it funds RTE & that means they are morally obliged to provide programming to TV owners & to maintain a transmitter network to facilitate the distribution of TV programs (at least for now).

muincav

Thanx for all the replies-
I have since found out tha the houses surrounding the immediate area of the wind farm have had Sky sat systems installed by the company since they stared the farm. This was offered to the householders before any complaints could come into the company, which seems to indicate responsability..but saying that we are living 4 miles away and I will contact RTE to find out for sure if it is the wind farm causing the problem..
Will let you know how it all pans out....thanx again

conax

gerryo wrote:

Is it not the same as in the UK, (where Ofcom & the BBC have joint responsibility for reception issues) do RTE & Comreg not have to get involved/investigate?

See this document http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/info/pdf/buildings_factsheet.pdf which has good information on wind farm problems.
I would expect the wind farm developer to remedy this, afterall, you paid your TV licence, RTE provided sufficient signal strength to deliver program material & now you cannot view the paid for service*

I think you have a good case (IMHO) against the windfarm.
I'm surprised there was not some sort of survey done as part of the environmental impact (or is this not required unless there are rare snails).
Maybe you'll get a free $ky installation & paid for viewing cards.
I can see this problem becoming more & more common as windfarms sprout on every hillside.

*Technically, the licence is to allow you to own a TV, but in reality it funds RTE & that means they are morally obliged to provide programming to TV owners & to maintain a transmitter network to facilitate the distribution of TV programs (at least for now).

if you lived in a bungalow and a 2 story house was built nextdoor and blocked your reception is this an RTE problem?

Antenna

conax wrote:

if you lived in a bungalow and a 2 story house was built nextdoor and blocked your reception is this an RTE problem?

yes, windfarms aren't the only development that can affect TV reception. Tall buildings in urban areas etc
Reception can often be ruined in rural areas by forestry - though as the deterioration is gradual as the trees grow people might not put 2 and 2 together that the trees are the cause. I wonder has Coillte ever paid for Sky digital or other measures for residents?

I recall a report in some local newspaper (Southern Star I think) months ago about a Cork County Council meeting of how FF Councillor Deirdre Forde complained of a newly constructed industrial building in Cork harbour blocking TV reception (apparently of SCTV channels only) to some people in the Monkstown area, and was advised to complain to comreg, what she was expecting comreg to do about it I do not know?

gerryo

conax wrote:

if you lived in a bungalow and a 2 story house was built nextdoor and blocked your reception is this an RTE problem?

Might have to be made of lead for that to happen, unless your reception was so bad it was almost unwatchable. Very hard to block out VHF TV; UHF can be worsened through bricks 'n mortar. Satellite will be eliminated.

Anyway, if you were clued up, you'd have already objected for this very reason before the build was started & you would not have the problem.

lawhec

As I recall, developers for buildings in the UK cannot be held responsible for affecting your TV or radio reception provided they follow the planning conditions and do not physically interfere with your reception equiptment. I'm not sure what the situation is in the Republic.

conax

if you lived in a bungalow and a 2 story house was built nextdoor and blocked your reception is this an RTE problem?


Maybe I should have worded that differently, the point I was trying to make is that national broadcaster cannot to the best of my knowledge be held responsible for the actions of a third party.


as regarding the building of the factories in the Cork harbour, the reception problem in Monkstown was with both RTE and SCTV (as they come from more or less the same direction from Monkstown) they was extensive site testing prior to the building work, those affected after the works were taken care of by some of the offending companies, however some of the people claiming disturbance already had issues with reception prior to any construction work.

Ulsterman 1690

Antenna wrote:

what she was expecting comreg to do about it I do not know?

COMREG arent responsible for issuing planning permission. Planning permission in Ireland is a local authority matter -As it happens in this case the very same local authority that the counciller in question is a member of. The fact that She doesnt understand this raises the question is she a fit person to hold public office :rolleyes:

developers for buildings in the UK cannot be held responsible for affecting your TV or radio reception provided they follow the planning conditions and do not physically interfere with your reception equiptment.

You Imagine correctly. There was a court case about this a few years back taken against the developers of Canary Wharf in London. Initially the residents won but it was overturned on appeal

I'm not sure what the situation is in the Republic.

Unless the law in Ireland is substantially different and in the absence of any Irish case law on the matter the UK ruling could be taken as precedent.

Or then again maybe not

cast_iron

Ulsterman 1690 wrote:

The fact that She doesnt understand this raises the question is she a fit person to hold public office

I remember hearing a local Councillor giving out about a power cut in the area. "I'm off to ring Chorus", he proclaimed.

From a PR point of view, it's in the wind farm company's interest to sort these issues out with the locals; something they have already attempted in this case (albeit cheaply:)).

gerryo

conax wrote:

if you lived in a bungalow and a 2 story house was built nextdoor and blocked your reception is this an RTE problem?


Maybe I should have worded that differently, the point I was trying to make is that national broadcaster cannot to the best of my knowledge be held responsible for the actions of a third party.
.

Yes, however, if a new building completely blocks your RTE reception (e.g,where you engage the services of a reputable company to install a new antenna/amplifier & still cannot get satisfactory reception), the it might be that the RTE signal was so poor in the first place that RTE may have to resolve the problem for you.

Probably a real battle for 1 household to win, but for a community affected by a windfarm, this should be done ASAP.

Sponge Bob

There are national guidelines for wind farms in the form of some doc from the ministry of environment to the councils .

http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/Planning/FileDownLoad,1633,en.pdf

I believe it requires planners to always have regard for the ensuring of continuity of tv reception but you read it

1. If the county council did not put this condition in the planning permission they are negligent if you are now having problems. You may ( I think ) therefore sue the council who left the condition out for the full costs of remedying it .

2. If the county council DID put the condition in the planning permission then you should ask for their ENFORCEMENT department to deal with the issue as the condition is being ignored. Most planners are complete tossers in my experience ...get a councillor after them .

3. If the transmitter is Truskmore in sligo and the problem is a wind farm in Leitrim there is some odd loophole I cannot remember .....meaning get someone in Leitrim to complain to the planners and ask for enforcement for you even if you are in Cavan .....but you may still sue Leitrim if they left the guideline condition out.