Welcome to Friends of Jeddore

Friends of Jeddore is the website for the community group Friends of Jeddore, that was formed in opposition to a planned industrial-sized wind turbine farm proposed for the Jeddore area. Our goals are to stop the large industrial turbine development on the Jeddore Peninsula, to make recommendations to Halifax Regional Municipality on the HRM wind energy bylaw, and to make generally known our concerns as to why large industrial-sized wind farms are not appropriate in close proximity to rural communities.

February 22, 2012

By a 13 to 5 vote, Council last night adopted HRM staff's recommendation that the permitting process for wind turbines of all sizes remain on an as-of-right basis, with no requirement for anything more than notification of the local community that a developer is seeking a development permit to build a turbine. This means that, for now at least, Jeddore was the last community in HRM to have an opportunity to make our concerns known directly to Council in a public hearing. Our proposal that future development permits should only be granted on a Development Agreement basis, which requires public consultation, was an attempt to ensure that the public would have a recognized right to be heard.

The 1,000-metre setback from homes and 1 times the turbine height setback from neighbouring property lines remain in force. HRM staff insisted that a Development Agreement process would allow Community Councils to decrease the setback distances, and thus not provide consistency to turbine developers (though in two of the staff’s options for Development Agreement processes the setback distances were specifically preserved).
See the staff supplementary report here

There was a unanimous decision by Council to send a letter to the Minister of Energy objecting to the practice by some wind developers to rate what are essentially 2 megawatt turbines at 1.99 megawatts specifically to avoid the full Provincial Environmental Assessment. The Provincial Environmental Assessment which is required for turbines generating 2 megawatts and over does take written input from the public into consideration in deciding whether to authorize a large turbine.

Thank you all for your support during this long campaign at the municipal level to seek a development process for large industrial wind turbines which would protect communities’ health, safety, and economic and natural environments while ensuring that the public has a right to be heard.

February 20, 2012

HRM Council agenda for Tuesday, February 21, 2012, includes the following agenda item:

Case 17342 – Wind Energy Facilities by Development Agreement

This will be discussion of the staff report that Council requested on December 13, concerning a public consultation process for large wind turbines proposed for HRM. See the staff supplementary report here

Council convenes at 1:00 on Tuesday, February 20. If you can spare the time, please consider showing your support by attending the meeting. It is difficult to estimate precisely when the wind turbine report will be discussed, but at a guess, it may be around 2:30 or 3PM.

January 30, 2012

The community's petition to the Minister of Energy has been submitted, with 507 signatures against the East Jeddore Oyster Pond Turbine. See Latest News page for some statistics from the petition.

Many thanks to the dedicated volunteers who canvassed in their communities all the way around Jeddore Harbour.

January 3, 2012

Friends of Jeddore is assisting the East Jeddore Oyster Pond community in their opposition to a large industrial turbine planned for the East Jeddore Oyster Pond area. See East Jeddore Oyster Pond page on this site for more information

December 13, 2011

HRM Council agenda for December 13 includes followup discussion on wind energy in HRM

See Upcoming Events page

December 7, 2011

Public Information Meeting, Wednesday December 7, 6:30 PM, Oyster Pond Academy

Public information meeting hosted by Scotian WindFields, Inc. to to share information and gather feedback regarding a local Community Wind Turbine project in East Jeddore under the Community Feed In Tariff program of the provincial government.

November 28, 2011

Jeddore Group Forging Way on Wind Turbine Issues

Friends of Jeddore co-chairs Dave Kerr and Alastair Saunders' interview with Chronicle Herald columnist Brenda MacDonald in today's Community Herald.

October 18, 2011

At tonight's Council meeting, the staff supplementary report on the HRM Wind Energy Bylaw was tabled. Council voted to accept the recommendations in the report, including a public notification process for developers erecting wind turbines in HRM. Council then instructed staff to prepare a further report specifically on a process of public consultation, which would be in addition to the notification process now in place. A notification process only would not allow for community input when wind turbines were coming to a community. Friends of Jeddore fully supports the inclusion of a public consultation process, because otherwise, ours would have been the last community in HRM to have any opportunity for full public hearing on our concerns about a proposed wind farm in our community.

October 18, 2011

Friends of Jeddore will be represented in the public gallery at HRM Council once again, as a further discussion of aspects of the wind energy bylaw will be taking place. Specifically, the supplementary staff report requested by Council at the August 16 Council meeting, has now been released, and staff have recommended only a notification process for all sizes of wind turbines - not a public input or engagement process, as recommended by Friends of Jeddore.

See staff supplementary report here.

It is still possible for Council to pursue a public consulation process on large wind turbines, depending on which recommendation of the staff report they decide to follow. The presence of representatives of Friends of Jeddore in the public gallery will send a signal that we are still concerned, and still watching to see what Council will do to address our continuing concerns with this aspect of the bylaw.

GOOD NEWS! GOOD NEWS! GOOD NEWS!!!

HRM council voted on Tuesday,August 16 , 2011 to increase the minimum setback for large wind turbines in HRM from 550m to a minimum setback of 1000m, and also asked staff to include a process to require public input when a large wind turbine development is being proposed.

See Chronicle Herald report here.

See Metro News report here

CBC News report transcript here

Halifax news Net (Rick Howe's Blog) here

Full text of all Friends of Jeddore presentations to the July 5 public hearing now available on our Documents page

An Open Letter to Residents of HRM, outlines our concerns, and shows why getting the new wind energy bylaw right is so important.

What's happening?

Anaia Global has been planning an industrial wind turbine farm to be sited on the peninsula behind West Jeddore. The 10-20 turbines proposed for this development would be 138.6m –173.6 m high. The photographic representation (©John Versteege. 2011) above gives an idea of what these would look like on our landscape. See another photo demonstrating the relative size of these proposed large industrial turbines..

Anaia held a public open house about the proposed development on May 24 , 2011, which was well attended. Anaia has also been going about contacting individual property owners in the West Jeddore area whose land adjoins the proposed industrial project, A number of these property owners, and numerous other residents are now involved with the Friends of Jeddore.

Why are we concerned?

Health : Noise produced by wind turbines can have a significant negative impact on health, including danger of increased risk of hypertension, heart attacks, headache, fatigue, transient sensations of intoxication, nausea, palpitations, sleep disorders, hearing loss,and high levels of stress. That such stress may be responsible for various diseases is well known. The negative effects of Health issues arising from this type of sound pollution are enhanced by the repetitive and unpredictable nature of the Shadow flicker, the flickering of the rising or setting sun through the turbines' spinning blades can affect people prone to seizures and migraines .

Environmental: Water table and quality in the area could be affected by blasting during construction and vibrations during the operation of wind turbines. Underground water routes may be changed. The bog in the centre of the proposed project “footprint” is an eco-system supporting a varying array of life. This area could be placed at risk by construction and operation of wind turbines. Industrial wind turbines kill birds and other flying creatures. Nesting areas for birds could be destroyed (eg. Osprey, our provincial bird). Williams lake is a watering site for many ocean birds that nest on offshore islands. Migratory patterns of Canada Geese and other birds could be interrupted. Migratory routes of birdlife (eg. to Martinique Wildlife Sanctuary) could be changed. Flora (ie. white water lilies and bakeapples) that are disappearing from the Eastern Shore,and can only be found in the Jeddore peninsula could disappear from the area.

Safety: Catastrophic failure could see a turbine disintegrate leaving a debris field up to1.5 km wide. HRM fire departments are not trained or equipped to handle towers of this size.

Property values: Results of studies by real estate brokers and appraisers indicate
Property values drop 29% - 49% if located on property.
17% - 35% if within 650m 15% -
34% if within 3 km

Infrastructure: Those living close to West Jeddore Rd and Ostrea Lake Rd would have significant increase in truck traffic, noise and traffic interruption during construction. Ostrea Lake Rd and West Jeddore Rd will require constant repair due to heavy traffic. Access roads to turbine sites and transmission rights of way for a 138,000-volt power line and service road across properties from the wind farm to the junction of Route 7 and 107 Large tracts of land are required for turbine construction, sub station siting and work areas.

What is our position?

A large industrial development is not appropriate for the Jeddore Peninsula
HRM bylaw, currently in process, needs to be revised as to how HRM will deal with industrial wind farms in the municipality. We want a much more cautious approach to this kind of large industrial development especially in rural areas.
We are not against wind energy in general, but we think large industrial turbines and their effects require a great deal more study and careful consideration when it comes to placing them in proximity to where people are living.

How can you help?

Get informed. We have numerous links on this website to publications, articles and videos about people living in close proximity to large turbines.

Join our Facebook group for additional updates, links and discussion.

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to everyone who attended the standing-room-only meeting at the Ostrea Lake Fire Hall on June 28. Your support is very much appreciated. Our presenters of the 28th will be in action again at the HRM public hearing on July 5, knowing that so many in the community support our efforts, and showed it by coming to our information meeting, listening to what we had to say, and asking great questions. Thank you all.

THANK YOU to all who attended the HRM Council meeting of August 16. About 25 Jeddore area residents were able to attend the daytime meeting, and be there to witness the passing of the HRM Wind Energy Bylaw, which now has a 1000m minimum setback for large wind turbines.

THANK YOU to all who attended Council on July 5, and those who supported us in spirit from home. The bylaw as proposed did NOT pass on July 5. It was referred back to staff for further work on several areas, including setbacks, to come back to Council in August. All our presenters, as well as other individual citizens from our area, did a great job in making our concerns clear to Council at the public hearing.

THANK YOU to Steve Streatch, Councillor Musquodoboit Valley-Eastern Shore, who listened to and understood our concerns, and so ably presented them to Council.

THANK YOU to all those who've signed our petition (522 names and counting). If you wish to add your name, and have not seen a copy, please e-mail us , and someone will contact you about signing. (Note: this is a hard-copy petition, and isn't online)

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