June 23, 2013
Ontario

Council unanimous — wind turbines not wanted

JAMES ARMSTRONG, Sun Times correspondent | The Sun Times | June 22, 2013 |

The Blue Mountains will ask the province to add it to the list of municipalities declaring themselves off-limits to wind farms.

Council voted this week to send a letter to the province stating the town “is not a willing host for industrial wind turbine projects.”

Council’s vote came in response to an announcement by Premier Kathleen Wynne who this spring said her government plans to limit the siting of industrial wind turbines to communities that agree to be a willing host.

Before voting, council members discussed with planning director David Finbow his research into the matter.

Finbow said the amount of land in the town suitable for a wind farm is too small to make such a project profitable.

He referred to a constraints analysis carried out in 2007 that identified “unconstrained areas” of the town where a wind turbines could be sited.

The three unconstrained area – those outside the town’s settlement areas, cultural heritage sites such as century-old homes, farm buildings and lands under Niagara Escarpment Plan restrictions – identified are too small for even one wind farm, he said.

Finbow added that Dr. Hazel Lynn, the medical officer of health for Grey-Bruce, recently found that people’s health can be negatively impacted by wind farms.

Council voted unanimously to have The Blue Mountains named an unwilling host for industrial wind turbines .

Copies of the resolution are to be sent to Wynne, the Ministry of the Environment, Grey County and all municipalities within the county.

[rest of article available at source]

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/06/23/council-unanimous-wind-turbines-not-wanted/