July 4, 2012
Nova Scotia

Kings County rescinds wind farm bylaw

CBC News | www.cbc.ca 4 July 2012

The Municipality of Kings County has put the brakes on large-scale wind farms.

Council voted 10 to 1 Tuesday night to rescind a bylaw that would have allowed developers to build wind farms without public consultation.

The meeting drew a crowd of almost 80 people, for a topic that has controversial in the county.

Kings resident Warren Peck was pleased with the outcome.

“I believe it’s the responsible thing to do at this time,” said Peck. “This is not to say we will not start the process but when we do, it must respect real scientific evidence.”

Betty Lou Brown considers the night a personal victory. She became involved in November, when she discovered a weather tower near her home in Greenfield. That’s when she learned of plans for large-scale wind farms in Kings County.

“I’m just so grateful that the council heard us and paid attention to what we were saying and went through with this rescind, and heard all of our complaints – and not just complaints, but just good information,” she said.

Coun. Dick Killam describes the decision as “democracy in action.”

“We had 13 meetings (with) 200 to 300 people here at every meeting. They provided us councillors with a lot of information we just did not have when we first put the policy in place,” he said.

The possibility of large-scale wind developments in Kings County still exists, but council would have to hold public consultation before anything is built.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/07/04/kings-county-rescinds-wind-farm-bylaw/