November 14, 2013
Ontario

City wants a say in where windmills will be located

By Derek Spalding, OTTAWA CITIZEN | November 13, 2013 | www.ottawacitizen.com

OTTAWA – City council has asked the Ontario government to give municipalities more of a say in choosing locations for proposed windmill projects in their communities.

Coun. Scott Moffat says provincial Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli has already committed to finding ways to give local residents more influence about projects being developed in their neighbourhoods.

Moffat introduced a motion at Wednesday’s council meeting a day after receiving a petition from residents of North Gower, a community in his Rideau-Goulbourn ward, who oppose the large-scale wind-power project for fear of health issues related to noise and vibrations. Council gave its support to the motion.

“What you need is the ability for communities to be engaged in the process, and right now that’s not really happening,” Moffat said. “Mr. Chiarelli seemed to indicate that there would be a process going forward that would allow for community engagement and put it upon the wind developer to have community buy-in.”

More than 70 communities have joined a coalition of “unwilling hosts” for wind projects, declaring they do not want such developments. The Ottawa motion does not put the city in this same group, but instead asks the government to ensure residents have a say in choosing the location for such projects.

“What we’re saying is involve us,” said Coun. Allan Hubley, who worked with Moffat for more than a month to design the motion. “The original motion that had come forward was to deny them outright from the community, but council was not ready to go to that point yet.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/11/14/city-wants-a-say-in-where-windmills-will-be-located/