Paintearth county council
After months of discussion, including two public hearings, petitions and letters from concerned residents, the County of Paintearth passed the Land Use Bylaw, stating the wind turbine set backs will be between 750 and 1000 metres from a residence at their last regular meeting on Tues., June 21.
According to a local resident who wishes to remain anonymous, a petition was presented to the county that stated 80 per cent of residents who signed, were against the wind turbines within a 1000 metres of their residence.
This resident feels that the county along with the residents in favour of the turbines, some of whom do not actually live on the affected properties, are only supporting the project for the money.
The resident, during his phone interview with the ECA Review also feels that there is no way the turbines will stay under the 40 decibel limit at that set back distance and is concerned for the potential health ramifications.
The county did spend a great amount of time debating the pros and cons of the set back issue citing that by regulating the set back at 1000 metres there was the possibility of making subdivisions extremely difficult.
It was also pointed out that in the end, the final conditions under which the power companies place their wind turbines fall into the lap of the landowner.
Therefore, although the county has set some parameters for both parties to work within, it is the responsibility of the landowner to do their due diligence regarding the specifics of any contract they sign placing wind turbines on their property.
