November 2, 2007
Alberta
Alberta
The Municipal District Council will meet Nov. 6 to determine how to proceed with approaching the hotly-debated land-use bylaws.
Bylaws 1134-07 and 1133-07 propose to respectively create an exclusion zone for turbines and force windfarmers to produce cumulative analysis reports on the effects of harvesting wind energy.
The controversial bylaws have been accused of hurting the area economically while supporters see them as responsibly evaluating and monitoring windfarms to protect the rights of the human, animal and natural inhabitants of the District. MD Councillor Bjorn Berg suggested that the first step should not be to address the bylaws, but the Municipal Development Plan. He says that since the plan forms the premise of the land use bylaws, it should be refined first then the bylaws and policies can be revised.
“I fear for our time commitment,” said Councillor Rod Zielinski in concern over redoing the MDP.
The Council will choose their plan of action then present it as part of a public meeting.
Chief Administrative Officer, Loretta Thompson, is researching methods to effectively facilitate meetings. The importance of listening to the public in regards to such a sensitive issue has not been lost on the Council. Despite being new, the Council is very aware of the work ahead and the consequences of their decisions.
“It would cause a lot of problems for future councils if we get this wrong,” declared Reeve Rod Cyr.
By Nicole Thompson
2 November 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/11/02/md-considers-facilitation/