No turning back on wind issue
The Intelligencer | 25 August 2012
The Municipality of Prince Edward Council, although demeaned by the Green Energy Act, seems to divorce itself from the contentious Industrial Wind Turbine (IWT) issue. At least Barb Proctor showed where she stands, accusing the plaintiffs. Perhaps many councillors feel neutralized by the GEA and would rather not take sides in what has become a local war. But stonewalling or blaming inaction on the fact that the provincial government has rendered council mute when it comes to IWTs isn’t fulfilling council’s responsibility as our legally elected spokespeople.
If council wanted to be proactive, it could put in place a setback of 2K right now. Then, if the GEA is amended or the Liberals lose the next election, Prince Edward County would have proper setback bylaws . . . that would protect people from any adverse effects IWTs may have. This battle is not about wind energy. It is about specific IWT placement.
As for Coun. Proctor feeling sorry for the 20 odd families that must now wade through the courts, they chose to do contracts without letting their neighbours know. The corporate wind industry has a template which uses divide and conquer communities. If the defendants had checked the pulse of the community before signing contracts things may have turned out different. Council didn’t act six years ago when the IWT companies were clandestinely seeking turbine hosts. Have they tried to start negotiations between the litigants?
As Canadians we are not conditioned to accept autocratic rule, politicians teetering on the wall waiting for things to work themselves out. It’s the citizens right to use all legal means to protect themselves and their community.
As Barb Proctor said, “there is no turning back”.
A. S. Warunkiw
Milford
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/08/25/no-turning-back-on-wind-issue/