Residents' concerns delay vote on wind farm

Summerside city council has decided to wait a month before voting on a wind-energy farm planned for the western P.E.I. city.

Council was set Monday night to make the changes needed to rezone a part of the city for turbines, but people living near the proposed wind farm were able to temporarily push back plans. Some of the about 40 residents at the meeting were clearly angry about the proposal.

"Now we're getting windmills? Like, what the," said Roland Perry. "I better stop. Thank you very much."

Keith Tanton, official spokesperson for the group, said council needs to reconsider plans for the wind farm in the North Drive area of Summerside.

"There seems to be a huge rush to chase the money surrounding wind energy, but please remember this project will forever change our community," said Tanton.

"Before you spend millions of dollars on a wind farm, let's make sure you get it right."

Provincial guidelines require a buffer zone for wind turbines no homes within a distance equal to three times its height. In this case, that's 400 metres. The four turbines proposed for Summerside would meet that requirement, but Tanton points to Europe, where buffer zones of 1.5 to two kilometres are in place.

After hearing the residents' arguments, Coun. Garth Lyle, asked that the vote be postponed for a month.

"I think for the slowdown this is going to cause, it's also going to give peace of mind to the residents in the area that we're not going to ram this through, and that they're going to be looking at windmills before they even have a further say on the situation," said Lyle.

Council asked city staff to research the health effects of wind turbines so they can make an informed decision when the matter comes back for a vote next month.

The wind project in Summerside is part of the city's plan for the local utility, and separate from a $1 billionwind-energy development plan announced by the province on Friday.