09 Saturday Nov 2013
Posted in Health, Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power
Tags
North Gower, Not a Willing host, Ottawa, Richmond, wind farm North Gower, wind farm Ottawa, wind farm Richmond
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Alfred Taylor Recreation Centre
Sign the petition!
Tell the City of Ottawa that North Gower and area is NOT A WILLING HOST to a wind power generation complex that is too close to homes!
08 Friday Nov 2013
Posted in Health, Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power
Tags
City of Ottawa, North Gower Ontario, North Gower wind farm, Not a Willing host, Noth Gower petition, Richmond wind farm
Apparently, there are some people (not many; very few in fact) who question working toward declaring North Gower and the parts of Richmond that would be affected by the proposed wind power project Not A Willing Host.
It is a valid question and here are some points.
Q:Is the Not A Willing Host action simply a symbol? There is nothing in the Green Energy Act that says it will do anything.
A: That’s right BUT if we all simply sit quietly by and do nothing, nothing will happen. The fact is, the 73 Not A Willing Host communities represent a significant portion of the Ontario communities that are vulnerable to wind power development. The changes to the government’s stance on how much “say” communities have is directly related to these actions by municipalities, in their resolutions and motions at Council, their meetings, work through the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and more. The result of doing nothing is to get nothing.
Q: The North Gower project has been on the books for years and has never gotten anywhere; why think it will now?
A: We have written confirmation from Prowind that they fully intend to apply once the subsidy program application process reopens, if they are able to meet the requirements. The new process has not been revealed, but we believe that key components of it will be community support, and community ownership. To demonstrate as best we can the lack of community support can be effective.
To quote the lawyer for the couple in France whose legal action against a wind power project that caused noise and visual pollution,
“Today we are saying no: justice has been done and this shows all those who suffer wind farms with a sense of powerlessness that the fight is not in vain, that one can have one’s life respected–one’s right to peace.”
Democracy doesn’t just happen: we have to make it work.
Email us at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com
07 Thursday Nov 2013
Posted in Health, Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power
In an interview with Ottawa-area radio station CFRA, Ontario Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli stated that it will now be very “difficult” for a wind power proponent to get approval, without “significant” support from the hosting municipality. Ottawa is where a 20-megawatt wind power project has been proposed for over five years, and where residents of the North Gower community have been working on a petition to be recognized as “Not A Willing Host,” as the potential “host” community within the City of Ottawa.
Speaking on CFRA this morning, Ottawa Wind Concerns chair and Wind Concerns Ontario president Jane Wilson said the community needs to see what the new application rules are, in black and white, and determine what “significant” support from a city would look like.
When told by the CFRA host Steve Madely that there is pushback on Council to a motion being put forward by the councillor for the area, she said, “I would hope that Ottawa City Councillors would do the right thing for all citizens of the city.”
The report on the interview with Minister Chiarelli is here.
Chiarelli: approval not likely for North Gower wind farm without city support
By: Alison Sandor
Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli says without the city’s consent, it’s unlikely Prowind Canada will be able to build a wind farm in North Gower.
Chiarelli told CFRA they’ve changed the regulations for companies applying to build wind turbines.
“We have set up a process for wind farm applications now that require the proponent, the energy proponent, to actually have an engagement with the municipality and have some level of consent or cooperation with the municipality before they can actually even submit an application for the approval,” said Chiarelli.
Several city councillors have expressed worry about wind farms being built within city limits.
Opponents of wind farms say the turbines have negative health effects.
To contact Ottawa Wind Concerns, email ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com
06 Wednesday Nov 2013
Posted in Health, Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power
Tags
North Gower wind farm, North Gower wind power project, Not a Willing host, petition Not A Willing Host, Richmond wind farm, wind farms Ottawa
Our volunteer canvassers are out EVERY NIGHT and we are delivering paper petitions daily to the citizens of the North Gower area who will be affected by the proposed wind power generation project, should it be approved and constructed.
STATUS of the project: all large wind power project applications are on hold until Energy Minister Chiarelli announces the new application process, expected to be January. Prowind has told us they plan to reapply, once they’ve seen the new requirements.
KEY: community ownership and approval will be a factor. That’s why our Not A Willing Host effort has meaning: we will show that this is NOT a “willing host” community for very good reasons. We must speak up and take action: doing nothing results in nothing.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
-attend the last public signing of the petition Saturday November 9, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Alfred Taylor Recreation Centre
-download the petition here NG-PETITION-final
The petition MUST have your signature on an actual paper document, and be witnessed; return it to us at PO Box 3 North Gower ON K0A 2TO or email us at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com for pickup
-email us for a petition to be delivered to you
-plan to attend the Not A Willing Host event in Toronto at Queen’s Park later this month, details to follow
-our online poll is still active for another day or two. Please have residents of Ottawa go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LZSDL9N
The petition will be taken IN PERSON to the City Clerk at the City of Ottawa.
01 Friday Nov 2013
Posted in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power
Tags
Bells Corners businesses, Bob Chiarelli, business outlook Ontario, Lisa MacLeod, North Gower wind power, PC Energy Critic, rising electricity
On this first day of the new electricity rates imposed by Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli on Ontario consumers, it is appropriate to quote PC Energy Critic Lisa MacLeod from yesterday at Queen’s Park:
“In the few seconds I have left, let me talk about North Gower. They’re a community that is living this hydro nightmare because they are going to be forced to deal with these wind turbines. They’re not a willing host, and they know that their neighbours down the road in Bells Corners…struggling to stay in business are going to have to pay for high hydro hikes as a result of the government’s disastrous green energy policy. That is, I think, a perfect example of the Green Energy Act assaulting rural communities, and just 15 minutes down the road, businesses going out of business. I couldn’t make that point more clearly.”
To complete the brief online poll about expensive wind power in the Ottawa area, please go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LZSDL9N
30 Wednesday Oct 2013
Posted in Health, Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power
Tags
Green Energy Act, health effects wind farms, Jim Watson, Kathleen Wynne, noise wind farms, noise wind turbines, Ottawa wind concerns, Prowind, Scott Moffat, shadow flicker wind turbines, wind farm North Gower, wind farm Richmond Ontario
Here from the Ottawa Sun, a story by Susan Sherring, on the opposition to the proposed North Gower-Richmond wind power generation project.
By Susan Sherring ,Ottawa Sun
First posted: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 06:03 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 06:19 PM EDT
For years, Gary Thomas has run a successful 50-acre Christmas tree farm in North Gower.
And he does it right, a family event with horse-drawn sleighs, tractor-drawn wagons and a warm fire with hot chocolate and cookies waiting for you upon your return from the bush.
Don’t forget the sweet smells of fresh Scotch Pine and Balsam fir.
Idyllic? Absolutely.
Now picture the same Norman Rockwell scene with a 600-foot high wind turbine less than 1 km away.
Sort of jars the senses, doesn’t it?
And then picture the massive turbine casting a shadow over the scene every few seconds.
Thomas says he can barely believe the possibility.
But indeed, there continues to be a looming threat of a wind turbine project as his next-door-neighbour.
A company called Prowind has applied more than once to the province for permission to build the wind turbine project in North Gower.
And when the province opens up for bids again, there’s every expectation Prowind will submit a proposal again.
“We’re not very pleased with it for a number of reasons. Health, there’s the psychological aspect, and the flicker effect, with every few second have a shadow come in front of our house, this is crazy,
“I’m not sure customers having the old fashioned experience will like the shadow,” he said.
Agreed.
Thomas doesn’t just worry about the immediate effects of the turbines, but he and his wife have counted on the farm for their retirement — and if the giant wind turbines are erected, doesn’t know how that will effect the resale value of their home.
“We’re hopeful Watson and council won’t put them in the municipality,” he says, in an interview with the Sun on Wednesday.
The threat of a giant wind turbine farm in their community has galvanized residents of North Gower in opposition of the project.
“We really don’t need these wind power projects,” said Jane Wilson, the chair of Ottawa Wind Concerns.
The group is circulating a petition — which now has about 400 names on it — advising the province North Gower doesn’t want to be home to a wind turbine project.
“It’s a pretty big power plant, I’m not sure people understand that. It’s huge, these are really large machines, they make noise and the vibrations can be upsetting,” she said.
The group has the support of their ward councillor Scott Moffatt, who’s working with them and city staff to craft a motion asking the province to give municipalities a say in where the wind power projects can and can’t be located.
“The majority are against it,” he added.
……………..
Read more at the Ottawa Sun website and take the poll!
29 Tuesday Oct 2013
Posted in Health, Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power
Tags
Not a Willing Host North Gower, Not a Willing Host Ottawa, Not a Willing Host Richmond Ontario, wind power petition Ottawa
Thanks to talented and dedicated volunteers we now have an online poll which will gather opinions from voters in the City of Ottawa, which we can take to Council along with our petition.
The link to the survey is HERE: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LZSDL9N
Please go to the survey, and send it to Ottawa friends, relatives and co-workers!
Email us at ottawawindconcerns@gmail.com
Donations welcome at PO Box 3 North Gower ON K0A 2T0
Petitions due November 12; return by mail to the address above
27 Sunday Oct 2013
Posted in Health, Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power
Tags
Lisa MacLeod, noise wind farms, noise wind turbines, Ottawa wind concerns, Pierre Poilievre, property value loss North Gower, Prowind, wind farm North Gower, wind farm Richmond Ontario, wind power North Gower
(Dear Tom Spears: they are NOT ‘farms’)
From the Ottawa Citizen
NORTH GOWER — Nearly 300 people came to the recreation centre in North Gower Saturday morning to oppose construction of eight to 10 wind turbines north and west of the village.
“They’re too noisy. They are really way to close to people for an industrial power plant,” said organizer Jane Wilson, of Ottawa Wind Concerns. “Far too close to too many people.”
She estimates that 1,100 homes would be within 3.5 kilometres of the turbines.
“A number of the homes are within two kilometres, which is … where you see most of the health effects,” she said.
Her group circulated a map of where it says the turbines would be sited, “and when people start looking at the map and see how close it is, it really makes a difference to them.”
Opponents of wind farms say sound waves that are at too low a frequency for the human ear to hear can cause insomnia, dizziness, headaches and other health problems. The industry says there is no health impact.
Construction could begin in the fall of 2014, she believes.
The proposal by Prowind Canada is on hold for now, but residents expect the company to go ahead eventually. The Prowind website estimates the size of what it calls the Marlborough wind farm at eight turbines, producing up to 20 megawatts.
Nepean-Carleton MPP Lisa MacLeod, who is also the Conservative energy critic, attended the event to support the protest.
“Rural communities are going to be assaulted by these wind turbine developments,” she said.
She said the Conservatives want a moratorium on new wind developments, and an end to subsidies “so that we can put them put of business.”
She also accused the turbines of being costly and inefficient.
Wind farms are common in many parts of Ontario, especially along the Great Lakes, but are not yet common in Eastern Ontario. In some rural communities they have pitted neighbours against each other, with some welcoming the revenue and some saying their health and property values are at stake.
“There are obviously some health issues that need to be explored and Health Canada is doing that right now,” MacLeod said.
Wilson said the Saturday rally collected 282 signatures declaring that North Gower is “not a willing host” to a wind farm.
Nepean-Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre announced on Twitter that the social costs of wind farms are too high and added, “I will continue to stand with you.”
Click here for the map by Ottawa Wind Concerns.
23 Wednesday Oct 2013
Posted in Health, Ottawa, Wind power
There has been so much interest in what we are doing with our petition, and so much support from Greater Ottawa—Kanata especially!—we are going to do an online poll for Ottawa residents to comment on the proposed wind power project.
With the help of a wonderful volunteer, it should be ready tomorrow.
If you can’t come to either of our signing dates, please download the petition here, and return it to us at PO Box 3, North Gower ON K0A 2T0
21 Monday Oct 2013
Posted in Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power
Tags
Bob Chiarelli, Kathleen Wynne, Ontario economy, Ontario electricity bills, Ontario's electricity system, Quebec power
No, no, don’t confuse me with the facts!
Ottawa Wind Concerns 