A wealthy Lincolnshire farmer has been awarded £950,000 damages in a dispute with the Ministry of Defence over noise nuisance at his Grade I listed country estate.
Property owner Darby Dennis claimed that the noise produced by harrier jump jets had spoiled the peace and quiet at his family’s home at Walcot Hall, near Stamford, and had reduced the property value by millions of pounds.
The High Court has now held that the unpredictable and persistent noise amounted to “a very serious interference” with the family’s enjoyment of their property from both inside and outside the house. Buckley J said, in what he described as an “exceptional case”, that “no-one should be called on to endure” such a level of interference in any location.
The judge refused, however, to award the millions of pounds in compensation that had been sought by Dennis. He also declined to make a declaration that the operation of jets in the vicinity was unlawful, stating that, in the interests of the public, the pilots should be able to undergo the training that had caused the noise.
Dennis and another v Ministry of Defence Queen’s Bench Division (Buckley J) 16 April 2003.
Derek Wood QC and David Hart (instructed by Richard Buxton, of Cambridge) appeared for the claimants; David Elvin QC and William Hoskins (instructed by the Treasury Solicitor) appeared for the defendant.
References: PLS News 16/4/03
