CAMPAIGNERS have called for a national debate about wind farms ahead of the General Election, during a conference in the North-East.

Experts from a range of disciplines issued a number of warnings against wind farms at WindConf Conference 2010, which was held on Saturday.

Representatives from more than 30 campaign groups from all parts of the country, including several from the North-East, were among the 140-strong audience.

Bolam Area Action Group organised the conference at Polam Hall School, Darlington.

No pro-wind farm groups or developers chose to attend or volunteered to speak.

There are at least 40 possible wind farm sites across the North-East and North Yorkshire.

Half of those, including the largest, at Tow Law, County Durham, are already operating or have been approved.

Proposed sites include one at Bolam, two to the north of Barnard Castle, five either in the north-east of Darlington borough, or south County Durham, one at Appleton Wiske and one at Northallerton, North Yorkshire.

An application at a farm at Seamer is under appeal, with four further applications in the north of County Durham either withdrawn or refused.

Trish Pemberton, from the Bolam Area Action Group, said the issues raised would be passed to the National Alliance of Wind Farm Action Groups.

Dr Chris Hanning, a retired NHS sleep disorder specialist, said turbines should not be built within 2km of homes.

He told the conference that noise from turbines can affect sleep, which leads to many other health problems.

Common complaints from turbines include low-frequency humming and either swishing or thumping noises.

Although only one in five wind farms produces the latter problems, known as amplitude modulation, it is unknown how the phenomenon occurs.

Jean and Julian Davis, a couple who were forced to abandon their home in Lincolnshire because of noise, addressed the meeting, accompanied by a recording of the problems.

Mr Davis said: “The first thing we noticed was a lowfrequency noise like a low hum in the house. We couldn’t get away from it, but we didn’t think it was anything to do with the wind farm.

“We thought it was something electrical in the house.

We lost sleep because, once we picked it up, it was like a dripping tap.”

His wife said that many people do not complain about the problems because they want to sell their homes without impacting on values.

Mrs Pemberton, who organised the conference, called it a “David versus Goliath” battle.

She said: “This should be an election issue."