Huron-Kinloss council

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Huron-Kinloss may be removing the wind policies from its zoning bylaw, but that in no way means it supports wind turbines anywhere in the municipality.

At the council meeting Monday night (July 19), mayor Mitch Twolan made it clear that at its planning meeting next week (July 26), council will consider amendments to the township Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw.

Included in these amendments is removal of commercial wind turbine policies from the zoning bylaw.

"The Township of Huron-Kinloss does not have regulatory power regarding wind turbines since the introduction of the Green Energy  Act in 2009," Twolan said, in a prepared statement. "The Green Energy Act (provincial legislation) supersedes any zoning bylaw provisions in the Huron-Kinloss documents."

He said all applicants of Green Energy projects must follow the provisions of the Green Energy Act and are not required to follow local land-use planning documents in regard to placement of wind turbines.

"We wish to clarify that removal of these provisions does not mean the Township of Huron-Kinloss council is supportive of placing wind turbines anywhere in the municipality, but that setbacks and placement of turbines is regulated only through the Green Energy Act and therefore our provisions are no longer applicable," said Twolan.

Council also clarified that the meeting on Aug. 10, from 5:30-8 p.m., at the Ripley-Huron Community Centre is being held by International Wind Power which is proposing a wind turbine project in the township. This is an information meeting where details of the project will be presented. Any residents with questions and concerns about the project, should direct them toward the proponents at this meeting.

In addition, council has agreed to have councillor Don Murray sit on the Inter-Municipal Wind Turbine working group.

Councillor Anne Eadie has been sitting at these meetings as an observer and council wanted her to be a representative on the working group, but she said she has a pecuniary interest and wanted to think about it before agreeing.

She said that at the meetings she attended, almost all of Arran-Elderslie council was at the table, while other municipalities' representatives sat as observers. Arran-Elderslie has put together a bylaw that gives control over the planning of wind farms back to municipalities. Now, it wants other municipalities in Grey and Bruce counties to join a working group on this bylaw.

Eadie said Huron-Bruce MPP and agriculture minister Carol Mitchell is trying to set up a meeting between her office and the energy minister and environment minister to discuss this issue.

"I support the Arran-Elderslie initiative," said councillor Jim Hanna. "If we're going to have windmills shoved down our throats, we should at least have some say about setbacks."

He urged Eadie to consider going on the working group because she has a good perspective as a landowner, as a township councillor, and as a ratepayer affected by the wind farms.

"We have to come up with some criteria to minimize the impact of these wind farms on our citizens," said Hanna. "It would be good to be part of this group."

The next meeting of the working group is Aug. 5 in Arran-Elderslie.

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Tuesday, July 20, 2010