The only appeals against the NextEra Energy Canada wind turbine proposal will be coming from citizens, after council rejected a municipal appeal last week.
Council met behind closed doors for nearly an hour on March 27 to consider advice from its lawyer, Guelph solicitor Peter Pickfield.
They then re-opened the meeting and unanimously agreed (councillor Neil Driscoll was absent) they could not spend taxpayers’ money on an appeal that was unlikely to succeed.
Earlier in the meeting, Preserve Mapleton Incorporated, the citizen group opposing the turbine project, had president Tyler Struyk remind all councillors they campaigned against wind turbines.
Struyk invited council to be part of the judicial appeal against the approval of NextEra’s 10-turbine project southwest of Arthur.
He asked council to support a notice of motion by councillor Neil Driscoll from the previous meeting that would have council instantly informed if NextEra Energy Canada applies for a building permit.
Struyk also asked for a written response to the group’s request for a township judicial appeal and invited council to be a part of the court proceedings that were to begin this week.
Later in the meeting, council unanimously supported Driscoll’s motion, even though Driscoll himself was absent. But, after meeting for nearly an hour in a closed session, council was unanimous it would not be part of a judicial appeal.
Mayor Bruce Whale said in an interview after the vote that Preserve Mapleton Incorporated, a group of citizens opposing the Ministry of Environment approval of the NextEra project, might have a better chance in court from a private perspective than the township would have from a municipal approach.
Preserve Mapleton Incorporated has filed not only a court appeal, but also an Environmental Tribunal Appeal.
