Tie vote defeats wind motion support
Administrator | Feb 02, 2011 | Comments 2
By Ross Lees
A motion to support a resolution of the Municipality of North Perth regarding industrial wind turbines was lost to a tie vote, (seven to seven) at council’s committee of the whole meeting last Thursday.
A lengthy debate about the motion included seeking a moratorium by the province until independent health studies were completed and a full environmental study was completed to determine the impact and related cost to restore some power to the municipalities to set appropriate setbacks specific to their jurisdictions and to implement other measures as deemed necessary.
It was argued the North Perth motion flew in the face of former council decisions regarding industrial wind turbines and that it should therefore not be supported.
Councillor Bev Campbell said, “This motion requests a moratorium on industrial wind turbines and I can’t agree with a message that is at odds with the position we have taken with the province.”
Councillor Alec Lunn indicated he had put the motion forward because he opposed the position of the province that they will decide about necessary setbacks.
While it was noted the motion went contrary to council’s stand previously, councillor Robert Quaiff noted that stand was taken by the previous council and this council might want to make its own decisions based on the changing faces around the horseshoe.
Councillor Jamie Forrester was quick to state, “We need to have a discussion on what this council’s stand is before we support another council’s stand.”
Both Heather Campbell and Mayor Peter Mertens suggested the growing health concerns and other issues surrounding industrial wind turbines were clear issues to be considered, but Forrester came back to his original argument.
“Have we as a municipality taken a stance on this issue? I think we’re jumping the gun on this. We need more discussion here,” he said. Councillor Jim Dunlop agreed.
Councillor Barb Proctor was worried that by supporting the motion, council would be sending a message that they did not want industrial wind turbines in the province of Ontario. “Is that the message we want to send?” she asked.
Councillor Campbell said council should determine its position and councillor Brian Marisett noted there “was no proof there are health issues” connected with industrial wind turbines.
The deadlock vote defeated the motion.
Filed Under: Local News
Regarding Brian Marisett’s comment that “there is no proof there are health issues”, the following is an except from the testimony of Dr Nina Pierpont, who is doing research on the side effects of wind turbines:
“…there is in fact a consistent cluster of symptoms, the Wind Turbine Syndrome, which occurs in a significant number of people in the vicinity of industrial wind turbines. There are specific risks factors for this syndrome, and people with these risk factors include a substantial portion of the population. A setback of 1.5 miles from homes, schools, hospitals, and similar institutions will probably be adequate, in most NY State terrain, to protect people from the adverse health effects of industrial wind turbines.”
Mr. Marisett, you owe it to your constituents to read more on this subject. http://www.savewesternny.org/docs/pierpont_testimony.html.
Some individuals may not be affected as Dr Pierpont states, but wouldn’t it be horrible if you were. Furthermore, does any one individual have the right to jeopardize another’s long term health?
Congratulations to Councillor Quaiff by saying that the new council might want to make other decisions than the previous council. Councillor Bev Campbells statement about not going against the Province’s Decision on wind energy flys in the face of what a lot of people in the Province think about the present government. Maybe the next election will make it clear to everyone.