February 17, 2011
Ontario

Council urged to stand behind wind bylaw

DON CROSBY, Sun Times correspondent, The Sun Times, 16 February 2011

Support is growing for Grey Highlands’ tough stand against wind energy development, which dates back almost seven years.

In June of 2004 the council of the day imposed an interim control bylaw prohibiting industrial wind energy projects for a year.

Council recently voted to appeal a decision of the Ontario Energy Board, which ruled earlier this year that IPC could use municipal road allowances for distribution lines from its Plateau Wind Project.

In its Jan. 12 ruling the OEB accepted the argument put forth by IPC that it was a distributor of electricity and entitled to access to municipal road allowances for its transmission lines.

Last year Grey Highlands passed bylaw 2010-66, based on a bylaw in Arran-Elderslie. It calls on wind energy developers to provide certificates and assurances from several federal and provincial government ministries that wind energy projects are safe and not harmful to local residents.

“On behalf of those here today I respectfully ask council to require all proponents current and in future and without exception to comply with the provisions of bylaw 2010-66,” said Grey Highlands resident Larry Close, who spoke at Monday’s meeting on behalf of several groups opposed to large-scale wind developments.

“We want council to tell Plateau Wind Farm and Flesherton Wind Farm that they have to go and get certificates from the various ministries mentioned in the bylaw and guaranteeing people’s safety and health,” said Close, who represents Preserve Grey Highlands, a group opposed to the provincial government’s plans for wind energy as part of Ontario’s energy policy.

“Wind turbines make no economic sense and why should we destroy parts of our local municipality when the business case for wind energy doesn’t even exist?” Close said in a later interview.

Close said Preserve Grey Highlands is preparing an application for a judicial review of the approvals by the provincial government of IPC’s Plateau Wind Farm and Flesherton Wind Farm projects.

He said he would have more to say once the details were finalized.

[rest of article available at source]


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/02/17/council-urged-to-stand-behind-wind-bylaw/