Hello,
My partner and I were looking at buying a 4 by 2 house near the hills in Perth. I noticed that there were some large steel structures in the vicinity, and found out that these are for carrying high voltage transmission lines.
I did some research and discovered that, not only do they look ugly, but there is also some research showing these are a potential health risk from the EMF generated.
Here is one article…
http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,22264993-5007221,00.html
What are everyones thoughts about this? I found that there are some houses right next to/below these transmission lines.
If in doubt; don't buy it.
There's a million more houses for sale today.Just because it's potentially dangerous, doesn't stop people from living near them if the properties are cheap.
Look how many people smoke for god's sake.
Hi,
Scientific studies that get reported in the media are often those that have the greatest emotion attached to them. There may be 10 that oppose this point of view. I am not suggesting that the report is right or wrong merely suggesting that it may only be one opinion. At the end of the day it probably isnt which study is more correct that will inlufence things but the public perception. If the public percieve that the high voltage power lines may cause cancer (and lets face it – what doesnt!!) then even if there are 10 to 1 studies that say they are harmeless, the perception will be stay away from them. That is human nature.
If your question is generated from an investment potential I would suggest you look at the prices and time taken to sell in that area compared to other areas that are similar. It your question comes from your own concern, I would suggest that you look towards the source of the study for content rather than the media that will write with their own slant on things.
A few interesting links
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/330/7503/1290
http://www.hps.org/hpspublications/articles/powerlines.html
http://www.health.vic.gov.au/archive/archive2004/chobulletin/downloads/vol1no1july2001/powerlines.pdf
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Babies-at-risk-with-highvoltage-cancer-link/2005/06/03/1117568381340.htmlThat said, would I live near the big monster power lines? No way, I have 2 little ones and whilst I may gamble with my life, I wouldn't chance it with theirs. And I come from a scientific research background. Emotion when it comes to your own children is a much stronger input than logic. Just my 2c worth.
Cheers
TammyI work for an Electricity company, I wouldn't buy near transmission lines thats for sure. Besides the unkown of EM fields the transmission lines can be very noisy when moisture is in the air.
It will NEVER be a sought after suburb and I'd purchase elsewhere.
It all depends on the price… There's a guy called Josh Hunt who I heard speaking a while back, and he told some stories about HV power lines. (If you've never heard him speak, and you get the chance, take it; as well as being knowledgable he's the most entertaining speaker I think I've ever heard.)
Josh is now "big time" and bought Fitzroy Island about 18 months ago, and is developing a new resort there under his "Hunt Group" banner. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge2_DidLiTE for a taste of his style.
Anyway, quite early on in his career he made a heap of money by buying up blocks of land closest to the HV power lines in new estates – in fact he jokes that he was known amongst the property developing community on the Sunshine Coast as "power line boy".
He found that the discount that he could get for buying these lots from the developer was huge, and he also got good terms, because he'd bought the "least desirable" lots. Once he'd built something on them, the lines didn't really put off tenants from moving in to them and they paid the same rent as any other tenant, so they were just as good an investment as any other property in the estate. After a couple of years when the trees grew and the place was a bit more "established" in appearance, the power lines didn't stand out so much and the properties appealed to owner-occupiers, too.
I'm not saying that this would be the case with your block – I have no idea – but all I'm saying is that sometimes an opportunity is disguised as a problem…
Regards, Tracey in Brisbane
I remember a story years ago about a enteprising chap who sunk a large diameter copper cable in the ground around his property under HV lines……and with a bit of tricky connecting, NEVER paid for electricity again – and had the regular line disconnected form his house…….mmmm. True I believe, but for obvious reasons the elec co did not push the 'pay us for that electricity you're stealing from us' request too hard!
Thanks for all your comments, we won't be going near any HV lines.
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