By John Stoesser, QMI Agency
In a move to block a proposed power line project a local landowners association asked M.D. council to consider designating Divisions 1 and 2 of the county as wind power and transmission line-free zones at a recent meeting.
“It is our request to find a way to declare the area south of Highway 3 and west of Highway 810 as an area free of wind farm development and high-voltage transmission lines,” Stephan Blum, the vice-president of the Chinook Area Land Users Association, said. “Why are we asking this? What I’m trying to do…is run you through a number of facts that deal with wind power and hopefully open up a discussion.”
Blum’s information-heavy presentation and request didn’t start a flood of queries from council.
“Well Stephan, you look like you expected a bunch of questions,” Councillor Fred Schoening said. “I am surprised that you are surprised… I am the Division 2 councillor and I try to keep my ear on the ground and listen to the people in my division. So I think I know where you’re coming from. I’m also a landlord in that division and the power lines could affect me. But we have to glean this as information and sort through what is the best way to do it, so don’t expect a whole bunch of questions.”
Claiming to represent over 200 individuals and roughly 80 per cent of the landowners in those divisions, Blum gave the councillors plenty to mull over.
“It is possible for us to do a zone, a no-wind zone, a no-go zone,” director of development and community services Roland Milligan said, noting that the Burmis-Lundbreck Area Structure Plan already regulates wind development in some places. “But one thing you have to remember, it is an amendment to the land use document. It’s a political process, a public process.”
The land user association pointed to a number of reasons for prohibiting wind energy and power lines in the area.
