New group enters wind debate

Thursday, August 18, 2011

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

Friends of Wind Ontario, launched in July and spearheaded by Kincardine-area farmer Jutta Splettstoesser, has held two information sessions designed to rebut anti-wind organizations.

The first two sessions - in Clinton on July 26 and Chatham on Aug. 18 - each drew about 100 people. The third and final session is scheduled for Sept. 8 in London at the Wolf Performance Hall, Central London Library. Speakers include Gideon Forman, executive director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE).

Splettstoesser said her mission, to inform people about the benefits of wind generation and debunk claims that wind turbines pose health risks, stems in part from the actions of her municipal council which ruled that setbacks for wind turbines had to be far greater than the 550 metres set by the province. She took a petition to Kincardine Council on April 5 signed by 110 people supporting the development of wind projects in her area. However, council ultimately approved a policy that calls for setbacks to be increased to 3,000 metres in urban areas; 2750 metres in rural hamlets and 800 metres in farm areas.

“In a democracy,” Splettstoesser said, “you have to listen to all sides and found it too one sided and nobody would take on the task (of supporting wind).”

Her plan is to continue voicing her support for wind leading up to the Oct. 6 Ontario election and she has plans to continue the work, less formally, beyond that. “I won’t stop helping our communities,” she said. BF