SWOX Council declares ‘unwilling host’ to future wind turbine projects

The South-West Oxford council chambers were packed when council discussed two proposed wind turbines within its boundaries. Council decided to say it was an ‘unwilling host’ for wind turbine development. (Contributed Photo)

Debbie Kasman, Tillsonburg Post Correspondent

With people lined up to the road waiting to get in and over 300 in attendance, South West Oxford (SWOX) Council declared the township an “unwilling host” to future wind turbine projects in a 5 to 1 vote at its June 17 meeting.

Councillors Pickard, Buchner, Durston, Gillis and Way voted to support the “unwilling host” motion and Mayor David Mayberry voted against. Councillor Pete Ypma was not at the meeting.

Mayberry expressed concerns about not following municipal guidelines, saying that’s why he was voting in opposition to the motion.

An group called ‘South West Oxford Residents United in Opposition to Wind Turbines’ delegated at the meeting and asked for the “unwilling host” designation. The group, working alongside ‘South West Oxford and Malahide say NO to Wind Turbines’ gathered 1,245 signatures on a petition and expressed concerns about loss of property values, damage to well water, inadequate setbacks, noise and other community impacts.

Township of Malahide council declared Malahide an “unwilling host” in a unanimous vote on June 5. In October, Zorra Township also unanimously said no to any new wind turbine projects until the province revises its policy and gives municipalities more information about their impacts.

According to Wind Concerns Ontario, 159 municipalities have passed formal resolutions declaring themselves to be “unwilling hosts” to new industrial wind power sites.

Prowind Canada and wpd Canada are hoping to build wind energy projects in the area. Prowind Canada is proposing the Bower Hill Wind Farm would consist of six wind turbines located near Highway 401. Wpd Canada is proposing the Cedar Flats Wind Project that could see up to 34 turbines, stretching from Verschoyle south to almost Corinth and then west past Highway 73. Turbines used could reach 200 metres or 656 feet tall.

SWOX staff reminded council at its June 3 meeting that passing a resolution declaring a township an “unwilling host” does not legally prevent a wind energy proponent from approaching council with a formal request for municipal support. An “unwilling host” resolution is not binding and does not preclude the township from receiving or considering future proposals. Under the Independent Electricity System Operator’s (IESO’s) current procurement processes, what matters is whether a Municipal Support Resolution (MSR) is passed.

Township staff “strongly” recommended council refuse the request to be an “unwilling host” for any proposed wind energy projects expressing concern that adopting a blanket “unwilling host” position at this stage could limit council’s ability to evaluate each proposal independently and on its own merits.

April Nix, Oxford County Manager of Policy Planning, responded to a question asked by Mayberry at the June 3 council meeting saying “the province has made a bit of a mess with all of this…we have had AIA [Agricultural Impact Assessment] requirements in the Official Plan now for a couple of years…the province has then moved that in, that AIA requirement now, into the Provincial Policy Statement. That change became final last fall. And then somewhere in the midst of all of that, they started, they pulled it into energy and said we want parts of this done earlier, this energy process, as well. They’ve not done a great job on actually explaining the mechanics of how that’s supposed to work.”

When the Ontario Green Energy Act, 2009, was repealed on January 1, 2019, it gave municipalities more control over the siting of renewable energy. The Green Energy Act was a major point of political debate in Ontario, and its repeal was a key promise of the Progressive Conservative (PC) party during the 2018 election.