FEATURE SPONSOR
LEGAL EAGLES FINER DETAILS
Other text stated “three 130m wind turbines are proposed near grange Farm, west Ashton, close to local homes (around the 400 m) each proposed turbine is taller to the tip of the blade, than Salisbury Cathedral spire, Centrepoint in London and the Lafarge chimney, yet they can be erected under 500m from homes. Home values will fall. More turbine proposals will follow for other local areas”. The complainant claimed the leaflet breached clauses 3.1 relating to misleading advertising and 3.7 relating to substantiation of the code on four grounds…
1 The image of the turbine and the accompanying text were misleading because the image was not to scale;
2. The claim that “home values will fall” was misleading and could not be substantiated;
3. The claims that the proposed turbines could be erected close to local homes around 400m” and “under 500m from homes” were misleading and could not be substantiated because the closest homes to the proposed turbines at Grange farm would be over 600m away; and
4 The claim that “more turbine proposals will follow for other local areas” was misleading and could not be substantiated.
ADJUDICATION DECISIONS On 24 July the Advertising Standards Authority made an adjudication decision which upheld the complaint by the owner against Stop grange Farm wind Farm. It did not accept the first ground because it accepted that the campaign group’s explanation as to how the scale of the image in the leaflet had been worked out, and that the image was unlikely to mislead readers of the leaflet.
However it decided that the claim that the home values would fall had not been substantiated and was misleading. It held that there was no definitive answer from either papers within the House of Commons library or the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors that indicated whether or not wind farms would affect property prices.
The ASA also decided that the claims relating to the distance of the turbines from existing homes had not been substantiated and were misleading and in particular, had been calculated from the boundaries of the homes which were situated closest to the turbines and also took account of the overhang of the turbine blades - rather than measuring from the base of the turbine. It also decided that the claim that more turbine proposals would follow for other local areas had not been substantiated and was misleading on the basis that it could be interpreted by readers of the leaflets to mean that if the development proposals were successful, it would be inevitable future proposals for wind farms in other areas would be granted.
AN IMPORTANT MILESTONE FOR DEVELOPERS
The decision is an important milestone for renewables developers. It is a clear indication that whilst campaigning groups may be local in nature and operate on a smaller budget than is available to renewable developers, the rules on advertising apply equally to such a small groups as they would to a much larger organisation. Speculation, local gossip, and scaremongering will not be tolerated in campaign literature.
Before any claims are published the person making those claims must have cogent evidence to substantiate the claims that are being made - and those claims must be ones which are not materially likely to mislead any party reading them.
Andrew Oliver Andrew Jackson Solicitors Click to view more info
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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