Colchester County group ‘shocked’ by new setbacks on wind turbines
Credit: Aidan Rawding • Published Mar 28, 2025 • saltwire.com ~~
New setbacks on wind turbine regulations administered by the provincial government have left a citizens’ group wondering why.
At a public hearing for Colchester County’s new municipal planning strategy and draft land use bylaw on March 27, Protect Wentworth Valley member Nancy Frame spoke of her concerns to council.
“I’m shocked and dismayed that the province’s amendments to the Municipal Government Act would override council and the community’s work in favour of setback requirements,” said Frame.
“I’m not sure who asked for these … changes that the province has overridden. It was definitely not requested at any of the community … meetings.”
Protect Wentworth Valley is a citizens’ group that wants to ensure that wind turbine projects don’t negatively impact the local ecosystem or community.
Previously, municipalities could determine on their own what setbacks should be in place for wind turbine projects.
Under a new provincial revision announced March 7, setbacks cannot be more than four times the height of a turbine.
There are exceptions to this amendment, however, that take into consideration noise and shadow flicker from blades.
Previously, Colchester County’s setbacks for wind turbines were as follows:
- 1,000 metres for wind turbines up to 100 metres tall
- 2,000 metres for wind turbines between 100-200 metres tall
- 2,000 metres plus 7.5 metres for every one metre of wind turbine height above 200 metres tall
The new changes also prohibit municipalities from taking visual impact into consideration with wind turbine placements.
Frame also voiced concerns about this.
“We live in Canada’s Ocean Playground where visual impact is pretty important.”
SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE
West Earltown resident Wayne Edgar also spoke about wind turbines at the public hearing.
“I live in West Earltown, very near the Nuttby wind development,” he said, adding that he lives 2.4 kilometres from the nearest turbines.
“I know from experience that closer than two kilometers would be quite impactful on residents depending on the topography, the wind direction, ambient noise, and all those things.”
At the public hearing, director of community development Paul Smith spoke to the setback changes, which are now included in the county’s newly-drafted land use bylaw.
“In many ways, this is an unfortunate circumstance for many, given that we were heavily engaged in a process that spanned more than a year to sort of work towards a solution that set standards that … represented a workable solution between residents and the energy sector.”
As for the rest of the land use bylaw with regards to wind turbines, Frame said it’s “not perfect” but she appreciates that the community consultation process was democratic.
“Some of us in the community … that have made presentations would not feel that everything we asked for, everything we wanted were in the bylaws,” said Frame.
She continued, “we do appreciate (and) acknowledge they are a result of a transparent and structured process where all stakeholders were provided an opportunity for input and discussion.”
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