Gulf Shore Association remains opposed to controversial wind farm project
PUGWASH – Lisa Betts is not surprised the backer of a controversial wind farm on the Gulf Shore is not ready to throw in the towel.
Then again, her association isn’t ready to back down either.
“We’re not surprised, but he has to say the project is going ahead,” Betts said of news that Atlantic Wind Farms is still planning a scaled back version of its wind farm near Pugwash.
“As much as he says he’s going ahead with it, the more our resolve to stop it.”
Betts’ Gulf Shore Association waged a bitter battle against Charles Demond’s wind farm project that would have seen between 20 and 27, 100-metre-tall turbines erected between the Gulf Shore Road and the Irishtown Road on the outskirts of Pugwash.
The battle that pitted grassroots residents against Demond’s corporation garnered national headlines when Anne Murray entered the fray against the wind farm.
Murray has a cottage along the Gulf Shore, and while the turbines would have been a considerable distance from her property, she felt she had to speak out against it.
Betts is questioning Demond’s claim that his project still has a lot of support in the Pugwash area. A petition circulated along the Gulf Shore opposing the wind farm had the support of 80 per cent of the population.
Even if Demond’s company brings forward a proposal with fewer turbines, Betts said her group would likely oppose it because it doesn’t feel the wind farm belongs on the Gulf Shore.
“What’s going to happen is people who own property there are going to sell it, and those who are considering buying property there won’t,” she said.
“It will be ruinous to the local economy because the people who spend their summers there won’t come back.”
As much as she continues to oppose the project, Betts said she is willing to sit down with Demond and representatives from Atlantic Wind Farms to clear the air.
However, she said, that doesn’t mean her group will back down any time soon.
Darrell Cole
2 September 2008
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