National park proposal suspicious wind farm block
Administrator | Oct 16, 2011 | Comments 57
Prince Edward County’s south shore from Point Petre to Point Traverse, including the entire Long Point peninsula, is an internationally recognized Important Bird Area (IBA).
By Nicole Kleinsteuber
A movement to bring a national park to Prince Edward County is a thinly-veiled attempt to block wind farms from being developed in this area, says a South Marysburgh resident.
Objections toward a national park and conservation marina along the county’s south shore took center stage at Tuesday’s council meeting in Picton.
Point to Point PEC Foundation, a local non-profit group, brought the park and marina plan to council. Point to Point wants to preserve and protect natural habitat along the County’s south shore.
But others see the plan as a way to stop wind projects destined for the county.
“This is a clever, well-put together process,” said Don Chisholm, a member of the County Sustainability Group, which wants the community to adopt green initiatives, including windmills. “The whole purpose of the park is to create a road block and prevent wind energy development in the county”.
Prince Edward County council voted in favour of the proposal at the last committee of the whole meeting. Council agreed to endorse the creation of a national park and conservation area on the south shore, including Main Duck and False Duck Islands.
Residents who don’t agree with council’s decision spoke out against the park.
“Council’s motion to approve a national park in South Marysburgh has been done without any consultation of the ratepayers in the township or the county as a whole,” said Deb Hudson a resident of South Marysburgh.
Karen Hatchard, co-founder of Point to Point, said the group has taken steps to involve the community in the planning process.
“We tried to survey the county,” said Hatchard. “We’ve tried to engage people by asking them to contact us on our website and we ran full page ads in local newspapers.”
Hatchard said out of the 740 people surveyed, 94 per cent were in favour of the park proposal.
Former councillor Monica Alyea is in favour of the park proposal and has been working with Hatchard by bringing the park proposal to council.
Alyea told council the plan is just an idea and it’s not about wind turbines.
“I would not be involved if it was about wind turbines. I ask you to think bigger than that when it comes to Prince Edward County,” said Alyea. “We have the opportunity to stay out of it.”
Alyea said it’s unfortunate that people are worked up about it but the two issues are not related.
Hatchard agreed with Alyea. She said the group’s plan isn’t dedicated to stopping wind farm projects; it’s about preserving the area for wildlife and future generations.
“People are trying to bring the whole wind energy issue into it,” said Hatchard in an interview. “Nobody is talking about how this impacts the wildlife. We love this area and we’d love it for future generations to enjoy.”
Hatchard said she’s pleased that council has decided to endorse their plan because it allows the plan to move forward.
“Until we had the support of the council we couldn’t see the point of public consultation, said Hatchard. “This is a long process we need to see that we have a viable project before we get the public involved.”
Hatchard said the process could take up to 10 years.
Filed Under: Local News
Appreciate your concern Paul , very thoughtful.
Nov.11 , marks a day I take very , very , seriously.
People sacrificed their lives so we could live in a free and democratic society.
But that war to defend true democracy has never ended Everyday more of those freedoms and rights are being chipped away for convenience of a few vested interests.
The GEA is a dictatorial piece of legislation that has no place in a free and democratic society.
It was passed for the benefit and convenience of vested corporations , people and NGO’s to make some money , all at the expense of other human beings and their rights.
Whether you invade a country and force their submission or you do it through legislation , it is what it is.
We talk about values and freedom.
When corporate interest trumps the impact and effects on communities , it is time for people wake up.
Protecting our society and it’s peoples rights and freedoms have now been passed on to all of us.
I take that very seriously.
What don’t you understand here?
If you are part of the industry , a supporter or not …by embracing legislation like the GEA that paves an easier path for industry at the expense of the loss of peoples fundemental rights affects all your childrens future.
You just told the government it was okay to take a basic right away.
You are putting your own childrens future freedom on the chopping block.
So from what I understand in this article is that “it” (the desputed wind mill area)might be parkland.? I thought this was Crown Land It is left open to interpretation,wind mills in the County are still a possbility? Who is going to pay for the land acquistion? I am really confused.
P.S. I support green energy and wind mills.
I was pleased to see the recent announcement that the Prince Edward, Hastings Land Trust has purchased 466 acres of land between Ostrander Point and Point Petre for a land conservation area. This is extremely encouraging news and ties in well with the National Park proposal. The more land in that area that can be kept natural and protective of the environment the less opportunity there is for the massive industrial wind turbines to intrude and mar the region.
Im concerned for you Ernest considering all the time spent posting responses and searching for information,Have you heard of Electromagnetic Radiation emitted from your monitor. I know you have health concerns regarding “IWT” or windmills, just sayin..
Why not browse the Trillium web site , the Ontario grant arm.
Do you think giving PR Firms which are nothing more than Wind lobby groups millions of your dollars to groom not only you but your children in school to embrace wind and solar as the be all and end all ethical?
I do not.
Once again , the issue is skirted.
The only way for Ontario to produce power is having private energy producers sell us power at enormous rates?
That is the only way ?
No other ideas come to mind ?
After you browse the Trillium web site add another $10 million to what you see there.
We are all being manipulated.
It has nothing to do with what form of energy we talk about.
I fail to see what world electricity prices have to do with Ontario ?
We will make our own direction.
However it is true , electricty prices are rising in industrialized nations.
And it is all due to the Wind and Solar industry.
The entire EU is going down the tubes because of it.
It has been an interesting discussion.
And I hope some have seen the spin used.
If I have to pay for gas power plants to partner with IWTs and Solar to ensure reliability , pay 2 Billion for Smart Meters , rebuild an entire grid to accomodate intermittant power sold to us at 3 times more for wind and up to 15 times more for solar..why on earth do I need these for profit industries to suck the financial life out of me ?
Get them out of here, develop a program for Ontarians to adopt alternate energy and power Ontario ourselves.
We are paying for it anyway.
Every penny that is put into a FIT development , be it wind or solar ultimately we pay the cost.
Electricity is an essential utility.
I want to see this for profit wind and solar power producing industry as it works now out of this province.
First of all we don’t need them.
And there are far better ways to adopt alternate energy than enormously overpaying for a product they sell.
Despite the spin and redirect the bottom line still remains the same.
It is a Profit based industry in a monopoly , with a captured market that has set prices that we must buy first before all other power priced at 3 times more for wind and 15 times more for solar than conventional power.
It doesn’t matter about air quality , global prices , the cost of a barrel of oil. Or if land is “scrub” or not.
It is redirect of inflated prices forced upon us by McGuinty for this industry profits.
Remove the spin , smoke and mirrors and you have
“Energy” that I am SOLD at 3 to 15 times more than conventional power.
Fact: electricity costs have risen everywhere and will continue to rise,no matter what actions are taken or not taken.
Therefore, to use electricity costs as an argument against wind power generation is spurious and misleading.
Also, saying, “end of story. Period.” is not helpful. Everyone is entitled to express his/her viewpoint. No one has all the right answers to everything.
Agree somewhat John however if we have huge replacement costs on the horizon for nuclear which we will have to make regardless because we need the steady reliable source why double the pain by pouring billions into an unreliable source like wind.
Have you followed the Texas experiment with wind. $7,000,000,000 and climbing for transmission lines to subsidize wind energy profiteers.
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/275673/texas-wind-energy-fails-again-robert-bryce