MAPLETON — Concerned residents can breathe a sigh of relief: Mapleton is standing by its decade-long ban on additional windmill projects.
The decision was made at a Mapleton council meeting Tuesday evening after a community survey determined 70 per cent of surveyed residents living within a two-kilometre radius of the Conestogo Wind Energy Project had an overall negative experience living near windmills.
The issue returned to council last September after the township was approached by Innergex, a Canadian company specializing in renewable energy, who expressed an interest in building in Mapleton.
Mapleton council passed a resolution to declare the township unwilling to host further wind energy developments in 2013.
"Renewable energy is the way of the future. Does it make sense to be throwing windmills on the best farmland in Ontario? Arguably not, but there's other places that could be appropriate," said Coun. Michael Martin, who agreed Mapleton should remain an unwilling host at the meeting.
In the survey, many commented on the negative impacts on sight lines, noise and property values while others questioned their effectiveness in mitigating climate change and their potential impacts on communities, agriculture, and the environment.
"There is a strong belief that placing wind turbines near communities and prime agricultural areas, like Mapleton, could pose challenges to daily life and livelihoods," said climate change coordinator Martin Tamlyn in the report. "Additionally, there were comments about the long-term management of turbines once they are decommissioned, with an interest in exploring alternatives such as solar panels."
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program