Stop the Belwood Wind Energy Centre Project

On February 2, 2010 Invenergy Wind Canada submitted a project description report (1) for the construction of the Belwood Wind Energy Centre. This project would see the construction of 25-35 wind turbines in the area 5km northwest of the Town of Belwood in Ontario Canada.

We oppose this project for the following reasons:

A. Property Blight – wind energy projects have the capacity to reduce land value and resale potential (2).

B. Visual Impact – wind farms rob the natural beauty of the landscape and are seen negatively by both residents and tourists (3).

C. Health Concerns – the long-term effect of wind turbine exposure is unknown, however the uncertainty has lead to a moratorium in other Townships (4) until true health implications are known. Wind turbines create stray voltage which may cause deleterious effects to the health of humans and livestock of human consumption (5). Wind turbines have been associated with disturbed sleep, chronic headaches, stress, epileptic seizures and heart disease (6) (7) (8).

D. Community Impact – unrelenting noise from turbine blade operation and wind farm construction is a constantly reported nuisance in communities with established wind farms, causing annoyance, irreversible destruction of native flora and fauna (birds, bats, owls, etc), and a decreased quality of life (2) (3) (6) (9).

Works Cited
1. ULC, Invenergy Wind Canada. Belwood Wind Energy Centre. Toronto : Invenergy Wind Canada ULC, 2010. Project Description.
2. Property stigma: wind farms are just the latest fashion. Dent, Peter and Sims, Sally. 2007, Journal of Property Investment & Finance information, pp. 626-651.
3. The problem of windfarm location: A social multi-criteria evaluation framework. Gamboa, Gonzalo and Munda, Giuseppe. 2007, Energy Policy, pp. 1564-1583.
4. Mapleton, The Coropration of the Township of. Resolution for a Moritorium on Wind Energy Projects. Council Meeting Mintues. Township of Mapleton : s.n., December 8, 2009.
5. Networks, Hydro One. Farm Customers - Stray Voltage. [Online] 2007. http://www.hydroonenetworks.com/en/customers/farm/strayvoltage/default.asp.
6. Wind turbine noise, annoyance and self-reported health and well-being in different living environments. Pedersen, Eja and Persson, Kerstin. 2007, British Journal of Medicine, pp. 480-486.
7. Photic - and Pattern induced Seizures: a Review of the Epilepsy Foundation of America Working Group. Fisher, R, et al. 2005, Epilepsia, pp. 1423-1425.
8. Health status as a potential effect modifier of the relation between noise annoyance and incidence of ischaemic heart disease. Babisch, W, Ising, H and Gaallacher, J. 2003, Occup Environ Med, pp. 739-745.
9. Perception and annoyance due to wind turbine noise-a dose-response relationship. Pedersen, Eja and Persson, Kerstin. 2004, J. Acoust. Soc. Am., pp. 3460-3470.