Opposition to wind turbines at Westphal meeting  

Credit:  CBC News, www.cbc.ca 23 March 2012 ~~

Residents of Westphal, N.S., expressed concern at a public meeting Thursday about a zoning change that would allow new development of wind turbines.

Wind turbines as high as 60 metres could be built if the zoning changes move forward. They would have to be 250 metres from a dwelling in the Dartmouth-area community.

About 30 people attended the meeting and many were upset about the idea of wind turbines being built in their neighbourhood.

“My deck is adjacent to the woods. Rabbits in my backyard, pheasants in my backyard, everything is in my backyard, so when you start going up there and doing all that, you can kiss that goodbye,” said Victor Aulenback.

“People don’t want to be living by these wind turbines. Houses that are around those turbines therefore aren’t going to be as desirable and the value of those houses will go down,” John Humphrey said.

Most of the homes that surround the power corridor are in Coun. David Hendsbee’s district. He said many of his constituents could benefit from a change.

“I was a little surprised in regards to the extent of the opposition,” Hendsbee said.

“A lot of the property owners were here tonight and have the right to put up small, micro and medium turbines on their property.”

HRM staff say they will continue to look into the matter before proposing any change to Halifax regional council.