Sidelined

Council declines invitation to join coalition to regulate industrial wind turbines

The County will wait and see. Acting on the recommendation of staff, a committee of council, last week, turned down an invitation to join a coalition seeking to control industrial wind turbine development in their communities by way of a specially crafted noise bylaw.

Some worried about the cost, specifically the open-ended financial exposure of drafting and subsequently testing a noise bylaw designed to preclude the operation of an industrial wind turbine project overnight. Others worried about offending the province—that bad things would surely befall the unruly municipalities working to frustrate provincial government ambitions.

Yet others were jittery that only six other municipalities had joined the coalition—far fewer than the 83 municipalities that have, so far, declared their communities unwilling hosts for industrial wind turbines, in response to Premier Kathleen Wynne’s promise that her government would not put these projects in communities that didn’t want them.

Still, the debate last week was illuminating for it revealed just how far council’s attitude toward industrial wind turbines has shifted in recent years. No one spoke in favour of the developers. There was only criticism expressed for the Green Energy Act that had removed their authority to regulate where and under what conditions renewable energy may be developed in this community.

Hallowell Councillor Keith MacDonald was once a strong supporter of industrial wind energy in PrinceEdwardCounty. But now he worries that such developments across the County will damage the tourism economy.

“I’ve made an about turn,” declared MacDonald. “We need to come up with something strong to prevent them.”

Ameliasburgh councillor Dianne O’Brien, too, urged her council colleagues to seize the opportunity.

“Turbines are going to be here,” warned O’Brien. “Wouldn’t it be more useful to join the coalition now?”

Councillor Barb Proctor predicted that council’s “wait and see” approach would be disheartening to many South Marysburgh residents.

“By the end of this year industrial wind turbines could be surrounding Milford,” said Proctor. “We have nothing that addresses industrial noise.”

Yet Proctor and most of her colleagues chose to decline the invitation to join the coalition—but agreed they would keep the door open to participation later on.

North Marysburgh councillor Robert Quaiff penned the amendment to salvage the small opening by adding the words “at this time” to the motion declining the invitation. Quaiff would have preferred council support the noise bylaw in principle— but lacking the votes around the council table he concluded leaving an opening to revisit the issue was likely all he could get.

Quaiff also wants council to look at its own noise and nuisance bylaw to investigate whether it might be modified to protect County residents from noise and nuisance by restricting operation of industrial wind turbines.

“Council should have considered whether we should use our noise bylaw,” said Quaiff. “Do we want a noise bylaw to regulate industrial wind turbines? We need to answer this question.”

Quaiff is unlikely to let this question go unanswered indefinitely. But for now, most councillors are content to stay on the sidelines as a handful of municipalities push ahead with efforts to slow down the developers and the Ontario government.