Potential to generate power

Citizen ‘elated’ over unanimous PAC endorsement for Kings County large-scale wind proposal

A concerned County of Kings citizen says that when it comes to the siting of large-scale wind turbines, “it’s not over until it’s over.”

Warren Peck of Black River Road said he was very pleased to see a plan he put forth in his “Proposal for Appropriate Large- Scale Wind Turbine Development in Kings County, Nova Scotia” included in presentations at public consultation sessions last September.

The sessions were intended to gather input on the municipality’s draft Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS) and Land Use Bylaw (LUB). There was a great deal of public support for Peck’s proposal expressed at those sessions.

The proposal was incorpor- ated into the draft land use planning documents and received the unanimous endorsement of the county’s planning advisory committee (PAC) in December 2017. However, the draft documents have yet to go before Kings County council for consideration.

“I must say I was humbled on the 18th of December 2017, when there was so much unanimous and full support for that proposal,” Peck said.

Peck was among the citizens who spoke out against an illfated bylaw approved by council in 2011 that would have allowed large-scale wind turbines anywhere in the municipality where a setback distance of 700 metres could be achieved. In the wake of public outcry and citizen petitions, council repealed the bylaw in 2012.

“The large-scale wind turbine technology and where they were going to place it certainly didn’t show any empathy for the rural citizens,” Peck said.

Reflecting on the journey from the repealing of the bylaw to having PAC’s unanimous endorsement for his proposal, Peck said he is “elated” and it makes all the time and effort seem worthwhile. However, it was a long, difficult road in terms of remaining engaged throughout the process and Peck admits there were times when he “almost threw the towel in.”