Dear Editor,
I am writing to express my concerns about the proposed Craig Lake wind farm project sponsored by ATCO. The proper name might be the Huber dam project. Project details and ATCO contacts are on the County of Paintearth website.
The project location can be described as follows: Huber Dam is at the north end of the project and
Fleet is at the south end. It extends east and west, approximately three miles. The project is partially in the broad deep Battle River watershed/valley on the north and in the south, the shallow flat Sounding Creek watershed.
Communities value their river views for their beauty. The visual impact of wind turbines in the Battle River Valley Watershed would have far reaching implications beyond immediate landowners, affecting panoramic views and disrupting natural landscapes for generations.
The Battle River valley houses unobstructed, large scale, vistas in our county as well as the County of Flagstaff across the river. Across the valley I can see Alliance’s elevators 40 miles away. They will certainly be able to see our wind towers as will Fleet, Federal, Castor, Coronation, Brownfield and beyond.
Huber Dam is a well-known camping and fishing campsite. Towers are close and in the line of sight for both the sunset and sunrise. It will not enhance its attractiveness to be inside a wind farm.
The provincial government has specified pristine viewscapes, specifically those close to the Canadian Rockies or foothills, should be protected.
While pristine viewscapes are hard to define, one that obviously gets an A+ value is the Battle River Valley in the County of Paintearth.
Perhaps we should declare locally that the Battle River Valley has the same consideration and protection and inform the province of this. Affected only by mixed farming operations, I would consider the valley to be a pristine viewscape.
A public meeting with ATCO is scheduled for Thurs. April 25, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. with followup questions from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m., at the Castor Legion.
As this publication prints the next edition on that day, people learning of this for the first time may not have an opportunity to attend so I will write a further letter to the editor following the meeting.
I am a non-participating landowner in the project area.
From my point of view, the project will decrease my land values as well as destroying a magnificent view.
I realize there are many wind projects in the county, too many! Many unique viewscapes have been ruined.
Personally, I don’t want it to happen to this one. I do not want to look into the valley and have my view screened by wind towers.
L. Wetter
Fleet, Alta.
