The Tallinn Administrative Court annulled the Health Board's decision. This decision terminated noise supervision for the Saarde wind farm. The court stated that officials must no longer decide solely based on developer studies.
The dispute began with a complaint from one resident. They were dissatisfied with the wind farm noise. They believed the Health Board's decision was unfair. The court found that the supervision was not independent because it used the developer's measurements.
The court said the Health Board did not sufficiently verify the measurement methods. It also did not verify whether the measurements showed all types of noise. The court found the evidence unreliable for low frequencies.
The court ruled that the state must fund studies. This will help avoid bias. The court stated that if supervision reveals problems, the Health Board must recommend legal changes.
The court emphasized that the impact of wind farms has been little studied. There is particularly little known about low-frequency noise. Therefore, the state should finance studies, not developers.
The Saarde wind farm has nine turbines. The developer commissioned a noise study because residents complained. The Health Board also conducted its own study. Measurements showed that limit norms were not exceeded. However, supervision was terminated in 2025.