Picton: Former Ontario Minister of Finance in the Dalton McGuinty government Greg Sorbara has bought a landmark property in Picton, in Prince Edward County. The Royal Hotel on Picton’s main street was purchased by Sorbara, whose family operates a real estate development firm.

The hotel had been for sale for some time, and was latterly owned by a real estate developer who had hoped to transform the property into luxury condominium apartments, taking advantage of The County’s cachet with Toronto residents. That didn’t work out, however, and the property has changed hands again. (See the real estate listing here.)

The hotel has had a colourful past, with a main floor tavern and rooms upstairs. Now, Picton residents are hopeful the new development will reflect well on the town. One letter writer to The Wellington Times asks an interesting question .

Royal Revival?

I was delighted to read that Greg…

Here from the Welland Tribune, how one council is carrying out its responsibilities to its citizens.

West Lincoln’s tough stance on green energy has shut out solar power, claims a furious Niagara green energy developer.

Albert Zappitelli of Umbrella Energy says his $300,000 plan to install 100,000 watts of solar panels on a client’s Moote Rd. barn is dead. He alleges it’s a casualty of the township’s battle against wind energy.

But township staff say aldermen have agreed not to give support to any feed-in tariff project — support Zappitelli said is critical to winning a green contract from the province. And they said Zappitelli’s bid to speak Monday at township council was shot down because he didn’t give 10 days’ notice.

“The message I got was you’re beating up a whole industry to get back at another,” Zappitelli said.

“We’re a victim of a protest that has…

Here from the Ottawa Sun, a story by Susan Sherring, on the opposition to the proposed North Gower-Richmond wind power generation project.

No to wind turbines in North Gower

2

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…

Here is a link to the poster presentation on the link between the environmental noise and infrasound produced by industrial-scale wind turbines, as presented by a member of the Renewable Energy Technologies and Health team at the University of Waterloo.

Wind Concerns Ontario has already sent a letter to the Premier, the Minister of Energy, and the Minister of the Environment to demand that NO MORE wind power project approvals be granted, given the questions raised by these results.

Poster_CPaller_Oct15_WT Noise Sleep Quality

Wind Concerns Ontario may be contacted at windconcerns@gmail.com

Here from The Independent, is the responses received by the newspaper to a set of questions put to Ontario Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli, on the new procurement process for large-scale wind power projects. The announcement of the new process has been delayed.

Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli answers turbine questions

Posted October 26, 2013: Business, Featured, Front Page, News.

Editor’s note: The Independent recently requested an interview with Ontario Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli about the concerns about industrial wind turbines. We submitted five questions and here are the unedited responses forwarded by the minister’s office.

When will the province outline how it will handle FIT program?

The Large Feed-in Tariff (FIT) program is being replaced with a new competitive procurement process for renewable energy projects.  We asked the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) to develop a new competitive procurement process for future renewable energy projects larger than…

From The Morrisburg Leader, news item about Wind Concerns Ontario member and community group leader Leslie Disheau, who plans to run in the 2014 municipal election. Disheau has been involved in numerous community and charity efforts, and until the group decided to disband recently, was leader of the South Branch Wind Opposition group.

Disheau shifts focus to the 2014 election

News – October 23, 2013 Edition

SOUTH DUNDAS —  

The nomination process for the 2014 municipal elections doesn’t open until the new year, but already, Leslie Disheau has announced that she plans to seek a seat at the South Dundas council table.

Disheau made the announcement to the South Branch Wind Opposition group, and its followers, within the context of the announced dissolution of the group, over the weekend.

Although Disheau has not yet announced which seat at the South Dundas council table she has her…

North Gower-Richmond (Ottawa), October 26–Hundreds of residents jammed into the largest hall in the Recreation Centre in North Gower today, to listen to speakers and sign petitions to declare the community Not a Willing Host to a proposed wind power project.

The 20-megawatt project is on hold, waiting for Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli to announce the new “procurement” process and application procedure for large-scale renewable power generation projects, which is expected to happen in January, 2014. The wind power developer Prowind, based in Germany,already told The Ottawa Citizen it  intends to reapply for the subsidy program, and that it would work to make local residents “comfortable” with the project.

But the citizens looked anything but comfortable Saturday as they lined up to sign a petition to go to the City of Ottawa demanding to be declared Not a Willing Host.

Ottawa Wind Concerns chair Jane Wilson said that the $20-million…

In a letter to Environmental and Lands Tribunal Ontario, a lawyer at Torys LLP, representing wind power developer NextEra in the appeal of the Adelaide wind power project, objects to the appellant’s request to videorecord the proceedings.

Justin Necpal writes “There is evidence that anti-wind groups [sic] have used the Internet and social media to criticize REA appeal participants, creating the potential for a threatening environment for wind developers and the governmental agencies that are involved in issuing approvals for wind energy projects. In one recent REA appeal, audio recordings of the hearing were made and photos of legal counsel were taken, and both were posted to the Internet. There are other examples of activities by wind opponents that give rise to personal security concerns for those participating in REA appeals…” See the full letter, copied to appellant Esther Wrightman, here.

Mr Necpal, who is a litgation lawyer…