For the past 26 years, I have spent my summers on the Gulf Shore. It is, for me, as I’m sure it is for all cottagers, my “light at the end of the tunnel.” There I find the peace, quiet and serene beauty that escapes me for the rest of the year.
I am very much in favour of alternative sources of power, but this current proposal of a wind farm on our shore is deeply disturbing. I believe that an industrial installation so close to our residences and golf course would disrupt all of the qualities that make the area so attractive.
In the past 10 years, there has been a steady influx of people and a flurry of building activity in the area. It has been a real boon for the community. Many of these people are building their “dream home.” I believe that this farm will stop that activity, businesses will decline and dreams will be dashed. The quality of life for everyone on the shore will be compromised.
I have played golf all over the world and Northumberland Links ranks with the best of them. Its seaside location and excellent reputation attract golfers from everywhere and we need those golfers to help us sustain the Links. I have played on two golf courses that had turbines nearby and I would never play them again. They are imposing structures and definitely not the kind of thing one wants to see from a golf course. I believe that others would feel the same as I and never return. Turbines are a curiosity, but only once.
I have been inviting people to my beloved province for years, and they all remark about the unspoiled beauty therein. It seems that we are hell-bent on changing that. Surely with all the land in Nova Scotia, there is a less inhabited and perhaps less cherished property, where this project would find a better home. It is my belief that this wind farm and the ones that will surely follow it will have a catastrophic impact on Pugwash and the surrounding area.
We must do whatever it takes to preserve our precious coastline for generations to come.
By Anne Murray
Anne Murray, internationally known singer, recording star and performer, was born in Springhill.
10 July 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/07/10/turbines-would-knock-wind-out-of-tranquil-area/