HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-05-19, Page 22PAGE 22. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2011.
Vodden wanted council to do more with school
Hundreds expected at turbine opposition rally
A great job
After five years as the Brussels Cadet Corps Commanding
Officer, Louise Wegg officially transferred command to Paul
Dawson May 10 at the Brussels Legion. Wegg was
honoured with a picture and a plaque for her service to the
Corps. (Vicky Bremner photo)
Huron East Against Turbines(HEAT) has announced that thegroup is organizing a large-scaleopposition rally in Seaforth on May 26. Recently the residents in the areaof an industrial wind turbinecomplex received notice from thedevelopers that a public meeting willbe held on May 26 at the Seaforthand District Community Centre. The
purpose is to hold community
consultation under the Green Energy
Act (GEA), one of the steps involved
in receiving final approval from the
Ontario Ministry of the Environment
to proceed with the project,comprising 15 turbines in the St.Columban area. Concerned about possible adversehealth effects and falling propertyvalues, HEAT decided to hold anopposition rally. Gerry Ryan, a member of thegroup, says that the intent is todemonstrate the opposition to anindustrial wind power project in the
community. He says that the Ontario
government has put very little
thought into the negative impact the
GEA is having on rural areas, that it
has stripped the planning authority
from municipalities and is creatingcommunity unrest. He hopes that the rally will send amessage to the government and theproject developer, that they need toconduct proper health studiesand consider the impact suchprojects have on rural communities.Ryan says that a similar publicmeeting, held two years ago inBrodhagen, failed to “consult” with
residents in any meaningful way.
“The company had a bunch of
signboards set up in the hall,
outlining where the turbines would
be located and explaining their take
on environmental and healthconcerns. They refused to answerconcerns to residents as a group – wewere supposed to write questions ona piece of paper or submit by e-mailand they would respond to eachperson individually. We weren’t evenpermitted to record the informationfrom the signboards,” Ryan said.In the following two years, HEAThas ramped up opposition to the
project. In March a meeting was
held in St. Columban to ask for
continued community support and
unanimous support was received
from those in the packed hall.
HEAT hopes that local farmerswill join in a parade of tractors,which will converge on theCommunity Centre. Communitymembers are asked to gather thereon Thursday, May 26 at 5:30 p.m. At6 p.m., there will be brief addressesby HEAT and other guest speakers. When asked how many people heexpected to attend, Ryan said that ona cold, rainy night on November 30,
2010, almost 600 attended a similar
rally in Drayton. With the support of
other groups in southern Ontario, he
hopes the Seaforth crowd will meet
or exceed that figure.
Continued from page 1
decisions, but if the rules can be
broken, or manipulated, how can it
be trusted. If the system doesn’t
work, it needs to be fixed.”
North Huron Councillor Brock
Vodden feels that, while the decision
wasn’t surprising, it does show what
is wrong with the system.
“It’s not unexpected, the appeal
was certainly based on
technicalities,” he said. “What
disturbs me the most is that [we were
limited in how] we could object to
this monster school... we were forced
to grasp at straws.”
Vodden stated that, once the
zoning bylaw was passed, there
wasn’t much anyone could do to
prevent the school from being built,
but that he believes council has made
a mistake.
“It’s embarrassing that council
didn’t do more,” he said. “I’ve been
told by people in the community that
they feel that the council let them
down.”
Elliott stated that the appeal was
not filed because of any ill will
towards the township and said that
the opposite was true.
“The township and the citizens
must work together on all economic
issues, including having the courage
to look at the evidence of history as
it relates to the negative impact on
small, single-school communities,”
he said. “Ignoring the evidence will
not benefit anyone, least of all the
people of the community.”
Elliott also stated that this issue is
not about Blyth, but about the larger
community that will be affected.
As for the future of the
development, Elliott stated that he
will lend his support to Bob Pike,
another OMB appellant.
Pike’s appeals have to do with the
safety implications of having the
new public school built beside F.E.
Madill Secondary School in
Wingham, and the traffic congestion
problems it may cause.
The Brussels Legion played host
to a rare changing of the guard for
Cadets on Tuesday, May 10.
Captain Paul Dawson was
installed as the Commanding Officer
(CO) of the Royal Canadian Army
Cadet Corps 2967 Brussels Legion
squad. Dawson replaced Captain
Louise Wegg who had been CO for
five years, two years longer than the
norm.
Corporal Perry Bast, the Area
Cadet Officer for the detachment
London was on hand to inspect the
cadet members and oversee the
changing of the COs.
The Brussels Cadets have 36
members, which, according to
Dawson, is a fairly good number for
their drawing area.
“Thirty-six cadets is a good
number for the 1,000 population
area we are in,” he said. “Some cities
struggle to get 20 members.”
The Brussels cadets draw
members from Fordwich, Seaforth
and Brussels.
Dawson will serve, if all goes
according to plan, for the regular
three-year term that a CO does
before being replaced.
For more information, or to join,
visit www.cadets.ca
404 Queen St., Blyth
519-523-4792
541 Turnberry St., Brussels
519-887-9114
The Citizen
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By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Command changes
with Brussels Cadets
Continued from page 10
being planned, so the ladies will be
out collecting in the area.
Rev. Peter’s reflection was entitled
“What is the Church?” Is it a
building to worship in, a group of
followers of Christ or is it the body
of Christ? The development of the
Christian community has four
elements including devotion to
apostle’s teaching, fellowship, the
breaking of the bread and prayers.
All important parts of developing a
community with each other and with
God.
Celebrating birthdays this past
week include Gavin Bowers, Jim
Cook, Barb Fritz, Tracey Lee, Shane
Ryan, Andrea Shortreed, Edith Wey,
Jeff Grobbink, Jennifer McClure,
Cathy Melady, Joyce Williamson,
Jason Pennington, Ryan Butler,
Leanne Armstrong, June Veitch,
Luann Bennett, Phil Blake, Dwayne
Pryce, Ron Strome and Wendy
Glauser. Happy birthday to all.
Walton residents
celebrate birthdays