PAC packing for Pubnico Point

In early May, when they considered a timeline for drafting the wind turbine bylaw, they assumed they would have it on paper and be ready for their first public meeting by late September.

But it’s now October, and that first draft is not yet completed.

Over the past four months, the six-person PAC (Jim Thurber, Jimmy MacAlpine, Linda Gregory, Mason VanTassell, Nora Peach, and Glenn Dunn of the 4 Site Group), has sat in council chambers, listened to presentations and debated issues relating to wind turbines. Soon, they’ll be taking a field trip.

In early November, after the municipal election, they’ll be boarding a bus and heading to Pubnico Point. Thirty kilometers south of Yarmouth, that’s the site of a 17-turbine, 30.6 megawatt wind farm. The trip to that location will allow PAC members to subjectively evaluate the concerns of those who live near wind farms.

That’s important because the bylaw that PAC is developing will govern the location of wind turbines by defining setbacks from nearby buildings—including homes.

It’s also important because a 20-turbine, 30 megawatt Digby Neck wind farm was announced in mid May. The construction phase of that project hasn’t started yet—so it’s debatable whether the bylaw will apply to it, or whether the Digby Neck wind farm will be grandfathered. But if there any further developments proposed, they will definitely be regulated by this bylaw.

The presentations PAC members have listened to since the beginning of the planning process have been thoughtful, extensive—and largely assembled from internet data. Those have primarily been presented by people who are convinced that the noise generated by wind turbines will compromise their quality of life, their health, and the values of their property.

Both of the presentations at the most recent PAC meeting on Sept. 30 focused on noise, as have many that were made earlier.

Visiting the Pubnico Point wind farm, talking to residents and politicians will allow PAC members to evaluate ‘the noise factor’ much more subjectively.

It’s anticipated that the public meetings will get rolling in late November.