Wind farms: how to pay to make it all OK

There is evidence that wind farms affect the price of nearby houses. But there is a simple solution to that, says Merryn Somerset Webb. Give a portion of renewable energy company their profits to their neighbours.

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Why not pay part of wind farm profits to those living nearby?
(Image credit: © 2015 Frank Bienewald)

Wind farms do harm their neighbours there is "some evidence" that they cause "significant annoyance" thanks to "excessive noise". That is the conclusion of a new government report into turbines and it is a conclusion that will no doubt chime with the experiences of hundreds of people who live near turbines. So what should be done about it?

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Merryn Somerset Webb

Merryn Somerset Webb started her career in Tokyo at public broadcaster NHK before becoming a Japanese equity broker at what was then Warburgs. She went on to work at SBC and UBS without moving from her desk in Kamiyacho (it was the age of mergers).

After five years in Japan she returned to work in the UK at Paribas. This soon became BNP Paribas. Again, no desk move was required. On leaving the City, Merryn helped The Week magazine with its City pages before becoming the launch editor of MoneyWeek in 2000 and taking on columns first in the Sunday Times and then in 2009 in the Financial Times

Twenty years on, MoneyWeek is the best-selling financial magazine in the UK. Merryn was its Editor in Chief until 2022. She is now a senior columnist at Bloomberg and host of the Merryn Talks Money podcast -  but still writes for Moneyweek monthly. 

Merryn is also is a non executive director of two investment trusts – BlackRock Throgmorton, and the Murray Income Investment Trust.