Opposition to turbines continues to build

At the very back of his property, a kilometre-and-a-half in from the road on a winding laneway, John Ruppert broke ground on his new home Tuesday. On the neighbouring property to the west, all within 550 metres of the freshly dug hole, sat three stakes, marking the locations of three of the eight Industrial Wind Turbines that wpd Canada proposes to build in the vicinity of Fairgrounds Road and County Road 91.

The Ruppert property, which fronts on Fairgrounds Road north of 91, contains a total of 350 acres and currently has no house on it, which means the new home would be considered a principal residence. That allows it to be located anywhere on the property, unlike accessory residences which must be built within the existing cluster of farm buildings (in this property’s case, the cluster contains a pig barn, a drive shed and an abandoned house, located close to Fairgrounds Road).

Ruppert’s building permit was acquired from Clearview Township in January, and his plans have received approval from the NVCA as well.

While Ruppert’s choice of building site is a valid one – it provides the property’s best view of the Niagara Escarpment to the west – and while he has long been planning to build a house on this property in which to retire, there is more going on here than meets the eye.

The planning of the new house has been done in conjunction with Preserve Clearview, a group of area landowners who have dedicated themselves to finding creative ways to prevent wpd from building its turbines. In fact one of the group’s prominent members, Kevin Elwood, who owns the nearby Clearview Nursery, was operating the excavator that broke ground for the new construction on Tuesday.

While the Green Energy Act dictates that no turbines can be built within 550 metres of a “noise receptor,” as dwellings are referred to, this is not a cut-and-dry situation of simply building a new house and therefore preventing the turbines. There is a gamble taking place here.

Wpd Canada issued its project description report for the Fairview Wind Farm, as the project is known, on June 8, 2011. Under the Green Energy Act, the company then had six months to do its studies and proceed to a Renewable Energy Approval (REA) application. During those six months, the situation on the ground is said to be “crystalized,” meaning that any new dwellings built after June 8, 2011 would not qualify as noise receptors and have no effect on wpd’s site plan.

Wpd was not able to finish its work within six months, however, and on December 5, 2011, it was granted a one-year extension by the Ministry of the Environment, giving the company until December 8, 2012 to complete its REA application. The state of “crystalization” is also to continue until that date. Preserve Clearview’s lawyers, however, feel that a technical error was made in the way the Province responded to the request for extension, and according to Elwood, his group has now officially challenged the decision in court. Their opinion is that wpd’s time has now run out, and at some point the company will have to start the process all over again. And if that’s the case, then Ruppert’s new house would qualify as a noise receptor.

“It’s a gamble, but what other option do we have as a community?” said Elwood. “Mr. Ruppert wants to get on with his life, and this is where he wants to build his new home. How long can we stand still and let this company sterilize our land? At some point, you have to say, ‘all systems go.’”