May 19, 2011
Nova Scotia

Wind farm for Valley close to a go

By BILL POWER, Business Reporter, thechronicleherald.ca 19 May 2011

Sprott Power Corp. should be in the clear to build a wind farm in the Hampton Mountain area of the Annapolis Valley by July, a municipal official said Wednesday.

Brenda Orchid, chief administrative officer for Annapolis County, said a planning strategy that allows Sprott to proceed with most of its 12 towers will likely become official sometime around the middle of July.

“This new version of our bylaws will allow the project to proceed. There are some setback requirements that might affect some of the Sprott Power proposal, but these setback requirements match provincial regulations,” said Orchid in an interview.

Orchid said the planning advisory committee of the municipality is scheduled to finalize the new planning strategy at a June 14 meeting. The plan would then go to council for approval.

She said there is no reason to expect any changes to the document at this point, as it was the focus of significant public consultation while it was being drafted.

Lawyers for Sprott Power and the municipality made a brief appearance in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The teleconference court appearance before Justice Arthur LeBlanc related to a request by the Toronto-based energy company to have the court overrule a decision by a municipal employee to deny a renewal of building permits held by the company for properties located in Arlington, Arlington West and Hampton in Annapolis County.

Jeff Jenner, president and CEO at Sprott Power, was unavailable for comment. An associate said Jenner did not want to discuss the case at this point in the proceedings.

Orchid said the legal move by Sprott Power on Wednesday gives the company the right to pursue the court appeal on the building permit issue at a later date.

Sprott received provincial environmental approval earlier this year to proceed with its $60-million proposal.

However, the company was told it had to relocate four turbines that interfered with recreational properties.

The build area is about four kilometres north of Bridgetown.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/05/19/wind-farm-for-valley-close-to-a-go/