Clearview Township is not giving up the fight.
Council met last night during a one-hour closed-door meeting to hear legal advice from lawyer Harold Elston and discuss strategy after the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) approved wpd’s request to build eight industrial wind turbines in the vicinity of the Collingwood Regional Airport. The approval was issued on Feb. 11, the day before the judicial process to force a decision from the MOECC. The township and anyone else in Ontario, has 15 days to request an Environmental Review Tribunal hearing, to appeal the decision.
Council instructed legal counsel to draft and file a notice of appeal to the Environment Review Tribunal and to further continue its review of the renewable energy approval. The first part of the resolution said the township “continues to express its fundamental concerns regarding wpd Fairview Wind Incorporated wind farm proposal and renewable energy approval no. 3948-9RDLRF”.
Mayor Chris Vanderkruys faced a media scrum of two reporters after the meeting. When asked if he has any doubts he said, “There is always that nagging doubt because look at what they did last time, they just made the decision arbitrarily the day before the hearing and we had spent all that money on the impact study and they never gave us our day in court. I think that’s obviously what the Liberal government is doing to run things but we don’t have much of a choice in the matter, in some sense.”
Council is still working with its lawyer to determine the basis of the appeal.
According to the Environmental Protection Act, appeals can only be raised on two grounds: Engaging in the renewable energy project in accordance with the renewable energy approval will cause serious harm to human health or serious and irreversible harm to plant life, animal life or the natural environment.
Collingwood council held its own special meeting on Feb. 18 and decided to appeal.
“It is in Clearview Township, we are the host community and I think that’s the biggest part for us. We really want to see the [Clearview Aviation Business Park] move forward. We may not own the airport but by being in our township we have to show that we are leading the way just as much as everyone else,” said Vanderkruys.
Clearview’s vote was unanimous but when the vote was called, Councillor Shawn Davidson raised his hand halfheartedly.
Afterwards, he said he was reluctant to throw good money after bad and said he is not confident of a successful outcome.
“We all question everything now because of that decision last week,” said Vanderkruys. “That’s thrown in your face no matter what but when you think of our community as a whole and the growth factor, if we continue to let the province push stuff on us, where are we going to go?”