COUNTY - Plans are under way for a wind farm in Whynotts Settlement.

 "We've made applications to Nova Scotia Power for access to the grid in that area. We expect to get a response from the province in the next month or so," said Keith Towse of Community Wind Farms Inc. at a January 5 Municipality of Lunenburg committee meeting.

 "The Nova Scotia Power process in ongoing."

 The Mulloch Road site opposite the Lunenburg Regional Community Recycling Centre is expected to have sufficient grid access for two or three turbines, which are typically about 140 metres tall.

 "We've already started the public consultation process by distributing information about our planned project to residences in the immediate area."

 Community meetings are expected to be scheduled within two or three months.

 "Public consultation is a critical part of the development process."

 Assuming everything goes according to plan, a wind measurement tower should be erected by this spring as well.

 "Then we'll need to measure it for at least 12 months."

 Mr. Towse said the applicant owner is the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq Chiefs, but that "we're very open to discussions with the municipality about how they might want to be involved."

 Mayor Don Downe said initiatives such as these do more than promote environmental stewardship by creating energy while limiting fossil fuel consumption.

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 "Some other municipalities across the province are looking at these initiatives for no other reason than a return on an investment, as an alternative source of revenue for municipalities versus taxation. It's not an uncommon initiative going forward right now."

 Council is expected to address that issue at a later date.

 However, Mr. Towse acknowledged communities sometimes have issues regarding wind turbines.

 "There's a lot of controversy about people who may not want what is essentially a power-generation plant next to their homes. The main issue you hear about is noise."

 He said that can be mitigated through careful planning. For example, not putting a turbine within 800 metres of a residence should result in something quieter than normal background noise.

 "Louder than the noise in your bedroom, but quieter than a normal conversation in your kitchen or dining room - much, much quieter than the noise in your car when you're driving."

 Meanwhile, Mr. Towse said he has identified another site in the municipality possibly suitable for a wind farm development, one within 10 kilometres of the Nova Scotia Power substation on High Street in Bridgewater.

 "You follow the transmission lines out and look for areas that have good wind, second, that have a good setback from residential properties, and we came up with one more site other than the one we're working with."

posted on 01/11/12