Letters tell opposing stories
John Beattie says he first learned of wpd from Kevin Elwood, who, back in 2010, was interested in purchasing Beattie farmland for the purpose of putting up wind turbines.
Beattie sent a letter to local media on May 17 claiming Elwood initiated three meetings in the spring of 2010, held outdoors, between the Beattie Bros. farm and Elwoods’ place (Clearview Nursery) on County Road 91, to discuss the possibility of a land purchase deal for the purpose of initiating a wind turbine project. Beattie says he already knew Elwood, because he used to rent Elwood’s fields for farming.
Elwood denies the claims, saying in a letter sent May 18 that there were no meetings and he did not express interest in the wind turbine project.
Beattie says he doesn’t have any paperwork from the meetings but remembers Elwood referring to the possibility of putting up wind turbines as ‘the opportunity of a lifetime’.
According to Beattie, Elwood claimed to be in talks with potential investors in order to get together the eight-figure purchase price. At a subsequent meeting, Elwood expressed an interest in buying into the farm operation for the purpose of erecting the turbines, if he couldn’t get his investors on board.
“At the third meeting, Kevin said his plans were not working out with his investors and that they had come to a standstill,” writes Beattie. “However, at this meeting he still expressed great personal interest in buying into our business as in his mind this was a no-miss idea. During those meetings, Kevin talked about wpd so after our final meeting, I simply Googled wpd, made contact with the wind turbine company and initiated discussions for the Fairview Wind project.”
Beattie said his son Andrew was present at the last meeting.
Elwood counters in his letter, “Mr. Beattie makes statements in this letter that are not true and claims multiple meetings that did not happen.”
“I have never expressed an interest in building wind turbines or participating in the wpd project. My opposition to the Fairview Wind Project has been thoroughly documented since 2009 and is well known in this community. I have never changed my position on opposing the wpd Fairview Wind turbine project,” writes Elwood.
When contacted by The Echo, Elwood declined to discuss the matter further.
During an interview with the Beatties May 20, John, Karen and Andrew said those opposed to the wind turbines have tried to bully and intimidate them.
“There has been systematic organized bullying but they picked the wrong people to intimidate,” said John.
Their decision to host wind turbines is twofold; it’s a good business decision and they want to do something positive for the environment, by being part of a good green energy project, said Andrew.
The family says they have not kept their story about Elwood a secret but they chose not to speak to the media until the project was approved.
The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Control approved the project in February, prompting an appeal, which began May 16 in Collingwood. The Elwoods are among the appellants.
Wpd manager of communications Kevin Surette said there were no discussions between wpd and Elwood until after the project was announced, and then it was about Elwood’s opposition to the project.
