One of the things we have heard from a number of communities is that landowners who signed options and then those options turned into leases for industrial-scale wind turbines, is that they wish they had learned more about the whole issue before they signed.
A lawyer told our community group, If landowners had had a lawyer read over some of those contracts, the advice would have been NOT to sign.
The reasons are several: you virtually give away all rights to your own land for 20 years and at the end of that time there is a first right of refusal. In the United States for example, the leases are written in such a way that they are really 60-year leases, not 20.
But what happens quickly is the community reaction when a landowner decides to put money first and sign on the dotted line. Neighbours of the leased property tend to object when they learn that their property values are going to plummet (this is true regardless of what the wind power industry claims), their community industrialized and, worst of all, they are at risk of being made ill by the environmental noise and infrasound.
Here is an account of one farm owner’s statements from the dairy-rich Listowel area of Ontario. Note that the farm-owner now believes he was misled by the wind power developer (Invenergy in this case).
A link to the full story follows.
Doug Hoshel, the Britton landowner who leased the three turbines in question, said his feelings towards wind turbines have certainly changed since he signed the contract with Invenergy last October.
“I would never sign one now, mainly because of what it’s done to the community,” Hoshel said. “There’s so many unanswered questions I wasn’t aware of when I signed.”
The draft site plan also conflicts with Hoshel’s understanding of the project, which was described by Invenergy Canada as a low-density project with one turbine every 100 acres and no more than three turbines per rural block. The draft site plan now shows Hoshel with three turbines on his 100 acres farm, leaving him feeling like he was misled.
“The last thing I want is for someone to get sick because of something that’s on my property,” Hoshel said. “I love this community, and I’m concerned about it.”
http://www.southwesternontario.ca/uncategorized/welfare-of-children-at-risk-due-to-wind-turbines-parents-say/
****PLEASE be sure to sign the petition put forward by Nepean-Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre, asking the Ontario government not to approve the North Gower-Richmond area of Ottawa wind power project, while the Health Canada study is ongoing. A copy of it is on this website under documents, or you can go to Mr Poilievre’s office at 250B Greenbank Rd and sign there.
Ottawa Wind Concerns 