East Zorra-Tavistock rejects proposed wind farm project

A wind farm project proposed for the Cassel and Innerkip areas of East Zorra-Tavistock ended before it began Wednesday after East Zorra-Tavistock council declared the township an “unwilling host.”

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The unanimous decision was met with loud cheers from most of the standing room-only crowd, who had gathered in council chambers to hear presentations from Helmut Schneider, Prowind Canada’s vice-president of renewable energy, and David Cunningham, a local farmer who represented Wind Concerns EZT, a grassroots citizens’ group.

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“I believe that renewable energy is important, and I also believe wind turbines may form a part of that,” township Mayor Phil Schaefer said to councilors and the roughly 120 people in the gallery before the vote, “but I don’t understand why the most valuable farmland in the township and the county would be proposed for a massive wind-turbine development.

“It produces energy, yes, intermittently, but it also produces division. It pits neighbor against neighbor and puts a price on friendship. I will support this resolution.”

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During his delegation to council, Cunningham had suggested a resolution that would declare East Zorra-Tavistock as an “unwilling host” for wind turbine developments. The farmer was both relieved and surprised by council’s swift decision.

“A little unexpected,” he said. “I thought they might take a day or two to consider it and then vote, but (I’m) thoroughly happy with the decision. It supports the community.”

Rick Hommes, another member of the Wind Concerns group, also said council’s resolution was a surprise.

“I thought about it but never expected it to happen — and unanimously,” he said.

Speaking after the presentations, Coun. Scott Zehr said the response from residents about the proposed wind farm had been overwhelming. The councilor thanks Cunningham, Hommes and the other members of Wind Concerns EZT for their efforts.

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“I think you guys did a great job of rallying the community and educating folks. From the amount of emails I received personally, people spoke up,” Zehr said.

That community effort, including the large crowd at the council meeting, was critical to swaying councilors to their cause, Hommes said.

“I am big on consensus and they saw a small sampling of what the community was saying,” said Cunningham, noting the campaign was a focused effort over a few months. “Since just before Christmas, our heads have been down. We were like sponges trying to get as many facts as we could to keep the emotions out of it to focus on the vital few things we thought were important. The community rallied together quickly.”

Schneider, though, shared his disappointment with the resolution, saying he had hoped for more time to build relationships in the area.

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“The reason we did not make an ask of council is that we felt it was important for (them) to get to know us and to see if we are sincere in our community engagement process. Do we use this process to make sure we build trust in the community? We did not ask for a council resolution, but it has been made and we have to deal with that,” he said.

Now, Prowind will regroup and see what council’s decision means for its proposed developments.

“We do have other developments in Oxford and Ontario and, for us, it is more comfortable to work with a willing host so that is what we will focus on,” he said.

Despite the company’s setback in East Zorra-Tavistock, Schneider said he did have a lot of support for the local project. The company had already inked 19 land-option agreements for wind turbines to date.

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“I don’t think it is correct to assume that all the people in that room were in opposition because I did recognize several people who had written letters to council in support of this project. It is a bit of a false assumption, but the majority of people came here because they were requested to. We did not ask anyone to come and support us. We didn’t think there was a need for that because we didn’t have an ask for a resolution,” he said.

Coun. Steven Van Wyk did declare a conflict of interest so was not in chambers for the presentations, discussions or the recorded vote. He is employed by Stubbe’s Precast in Hickson, the company that supplied concrete to the Gunn’s Hill wind project and could have potentially done the same for the proposed project.

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Prowind’s interest in building another wind farm project in Oxford County stemmed from the Independent Electricity System Operator’s prediction of an impending increase in energy demand in Ontario. The proposal involved two clusters of wind turbines in the Innerkip and Cassel areas. Prowind, an international renewable energy company with an office in Woodstock, was working with the Oxford Community Energy co-operative, which was founded as part of the Gunn’s Hill wind farm project in Norwich, on this latest proposal.

The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.

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