Mr. Les Huson is an engineer and acoustician running a small acoustics consultancy, L Huson and Associates Pty Ltd. This business is a member of the Association of Australian Acoustical Consultants. He regularly submits material against wind turbines and gains expert standing based on his credentials.

However, his testimonies often are disputed once submitted. During an ERD proceeding in 2011 related to the Allendale East wind farm, Huson attempted to bring evidence based on an alternative noise model to the standard ISO model more generally used. He then misused the model he was presenting and was forced to backpedal under cross-examination:

In cross-examination, Mr. Huson… was forced to concede that the authors of the ENM model had issued a Technical Note stating that the ENM had propensity to predict unusually high noise levels for this type of noise. In the Technical Note, the authors recommended that, when using the ENM, a correction needed to be applied to wind speeds for sources having a height greater than 10 meters. 

In the circumstances, we reject the evidence of Mr. Huson.

Huson also submitted a lengthy set of material to the Victoria VCAT case related to the Cherry Tree wind farm in 2013. His testimony was referenced in the decision as being accepted over objections, and the Cherry Tree decision ruled in favor of the wind farm. Huson gave evidence the same year at an Environment Court in New Zealand for the Hurunui wind farm proposal. Again he attempted to discredit an existing standard with inadequate understanding of it, and his evidence was dismissed.

Huson has a several year history of submitting material that does not bear scrutiny, yet continues to be brought forward as an expert witness.

Posted by Energy and Policy Institute