This week, Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur (Reform) sent out a draft regulation earmarking a series of measures meant to alleviate disturbances caused by the expansion of the Nursipalu Training Area in South Estonia. Based on the types of weapons used, the effects zone of the training grounds has been set at 4,000 meters from its borders.

There is talk of two zones. Information from the Center for Defense Investments (RKIK) suggests that a total of 771 dwellings in the Antsla, Võru and Rõuge municipalities fall inside two kilometers of the training area's borders.

But disturbances will also hit people a little further away. The second zone extends to four kilometers from the edge of the training grounds and adds 145 dwellings in Antsla Municipality, 303 in Rõuge Municipality, 1,135 in Võru Municipality and 1,497 in the City of Võru for a grand total of 3,080 affected households.

The ministry aims to spend half a million euros on alleviation.

The draft regulation sets out that those who live closer to the training area and need to do more to adjust their living conditions will be helped first.

Among the 700 residential buildings in the more immediate two-kilometer zone are a few dozen homes in the village of Juba, near Võru.

"There's always noise out of there, big bangs and small. We don't get much peace around here," said Küllike Puusepp from the Järve Farm.

Puusepp has been living on the farm for 40 years, while her husband is a fourth-generation owner. The expansion will be added to the side of the training area closest to them, and it is clear that the 100-year-old farmhouse's windows will not stop the noise.

"The noise means we need new windows. We have old wooden windows, and when they were firing, the panes as well as vases and jars of jam we had on the window sill were rattling. Putting up a wall could also help drown out some of that noise," Puusepp suggested.

According to the regulation, the noise alleviation measures will come in three tiers. First, people living up to two kilometers from the training area's borders and being paid a pension, work ability or subsistence benefits will be compensated for up to €8,000.

"I believe we fall into that first group. We're retired and we are the training area's immediate neighbors. But the new windows should come with installation, because we don't know how to measure for them and a couple of pensioners won't be able to get them fitted," Puusepp said.

The Sand family also live in Juba Village. They moved to the Mäe Farm from Pärnu two years ago. The family has three children and is currently working to open a bird farm that would also be open to visitors and build a new main house.

"We knew we'd come here, that we want to make a home here, and [the vicinity of] Nursipalu did not scare us off. We kept going. The bangs can be heard and are quite loud at times, but they do not bother our lives," said Urmas Sand, head of the Mäe hobby farm.

The family started building its new home at the same time as talk of the planned Nursipalu expandsion first surfaced. The Ministry of Defense had to sign off on the new building in the planning process and urged the owners to prioritize alleviating noise pollution from the first.

"I picked the right materials when I was erecting the walls and went for the best windows right away. We fitted triple pane windows, as we were told double pane ones wouldn't cut it," Sand said.

According to the draft regulation, the Sand family falls in category two of support recipients – they're working-age and live inside two kilometers from the edge of the training area. This entitles them to 90 percent of the maximum support amount and a 10-percent cost-sharing component.

"People were promised a windows measure ten years ago, while it didn't happen back then. But the measure is there now, and I hope that it will be handled right to leave people feeling that they are being helped and are not to blame for living where they do," said Rõuge Municipality Mayor Britt Vahter.

She pointed to the support measure's relatively low cost-sharing component as even people living two to four kilometers away will get 70 percent of the maximum support sum and only have to come up with 30 percent of the cost themselves.

Apartment associations are also eligible for support. But this raises a new concern. Dwellings affected by the noise are most numerous in the City of Võru, but because just half a million euros has been earmarked and those living closer to Nursipalu will be prioritized, there may not be enough money for everyone.

"This measure could end up frustrating people in that while they can apply for it, there may only be enough for the first 60 applicants. But I believe that once we're done with the first round, learn the scope and possible problems with implementation, the government will allocate similar resources in consequent state budgets," Vahter was hopeful.

"We'll need to start somewhere. We'll spend the half a million, see how much demand there is, after which we can decide whether additional resources will be needed. So I would not see it as overly problematic that we earmarked €500,000 this time," Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur (Reform) said.

The application round should open this summer. The ministry is set to complete a noise disturbance study by the end of May.

"I'd very much like to see the results of the noise study to decide what kind of windows are needed and how much help they'd be. Maybe it'll be a case of the house shaking and the roof falling in instead. We don't know what will happen," Küllike Puusepp said.

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