Sudbury city councillors OK 50 wind turbines in Falconbridge

Morning North7:46Sudbury city council supports wind project

As many as 50 wind turbines could soon be towering over some bush land in Greater Sudbury. Hear what city councillors had to say about the project.Sudbury city councillors are throwing their support behind a 50-turbine wind farm proposed for the Garson-Falconbridge area.

The final decision rests with the province, but councillors gave their thumbs up at a planning committee meeting on Monday.

A few weeks ago, they firmly rejected several solar farms proposed for the Valley.

But Ward 10city councillor Fern Cormier praised this company, called Falconbridge Wind,for working with the community to make the project happen.

"It'll say a lot about what we often talk about which is green and green energy and the wholeregreeningrebrandingthat the city of Greater Sudbury has actually gone through."

About half of the wind turbines would land in Ward 7. City councillor Mike Jakubo said that the company has agreed to place the windmills 750 metres from homes, meaning the main disturbance is for wildlife and outdoors people.

"The lands are very ideal for this type of development," he said."Save the section that is along Garson-Coniston Road, these properties are mountainous properties that are really only used by recreational sportsmen."

"I really do think that at this early stage, they're going the extra mile and those are the types of investors, that as a municipality, we want to be at the table with."

Not everyone is convinced though.

Chris Dougherty, an engineerwhose parents live on nearby Garson-Coniston Road, believes taxpayers are just subsidizing these green energy companies.

He fears what will happen if there's a change in government at Queen's Park and the green energy program is cancelled.

"They're going to lose all their shirts, so I hope the City of Sudbury is prepared to become the owners of a whole bunch of turbines, because somebody's got to look after them," said Dougherty.

"This isn't helping anybody. This project is bad for everybody."

If the Falconbridge wind farm gets off the ground, it will mean over 1 million dollars in property taxes going into city bank accounts.

The turbines are proposed for a swath of bush land near the towns of Falconbridge, Garson and Coniston.

Half of the land is owned by private companies including mining firms, 30per cent is Crown land and some of it is city property.

The city would receive annual lease payments estimated at $30,000 for that land, plus about $200,000 from a cut of the profits, on top of about $1.3 million in annual industrial tax revenue.