From MSNBC
by Charles Q Choi
Radar could save bats from wind turbines
Wind turbines inadvertently kill bats and other flying creatures
These images are of the noseleaf of a typical horseshoe bat species (left) vs. that of Bourret's horseshoe bat, the Rhinolophus paradoxolophus (right). Computer modeling indicates the extreme nose is used to create a highly focused sonar beam.
View related photos
Rolf Mueller
LiveScience
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By Charles Q. Choi
updated 1:40 p.m. ET July 21, 2009
Bats use sonar to navigate and hunt. Many have been killed by wind turbines, however, which their sonar doesn't seem to recognize as a danger. Surprisingly, radar signals could help keep bats away from wind turbines, scientists have now discovered.
Although wind power promises to be a clean source of energy, some researchers have raised concerns that wind turbines inadvertently kill bats and other flying creatures. For instance, in 2004, over the course of six weeks, roughly 1,764 and 2,900 bats were killed at two wind farms in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, respectively. The bats might not be killed by the wind turbine blades directly, but instead by the sudden drop in air pressure the swinging rotors induce, which in turn cause their lungs to over-expand and burst surrounding blood vessels.
"Given the growing number of wind turbines worldwide, this is going to be an increasing problem, no question about that," said researcher Paul Racey, a bat biologist at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.
Scientists have tried keeping birds from colliding into wind turbines by making their rotors easier to see. And to discourage bats away from wind farms, researchers have tried white noise generators as deterrents. However, these "acoustic scarecrows" have not worked well, Racey said, probably because these sound systems are not strong enough to influence bats within the entire space that rotors sweep through.
A student at the University of Aberdeen first noticed that bats shied away from radar installations while driving past them. He was holding a bat detector out the window to scope out bat activity on the drive back home from out in the field. (Bat detectors are gadgets that scan for ultrasonic bat calls.)
Although bats use sound waves to steer in the dark by echolocation, radar employs radio waves, a form of light, so one might at first assume that radar would have no effect on bats. To see if radar could keep bats away from wind turbines, the scientists at the University of Aberdeen installed small portable marine radar units at 20 bat foraging sites in Scotland — woodland and riverbank areas where insect densities are high. The researchers monitored bat presence for 58 nights using bat detectors.
The researchers discovered that radar helped keep bats away, reducing bat activity by 30 to 40 percent. The radar did not keep insects away, which suggests that however the radar works as a deterrent, it does so by influencing the bats directly and not just their food.
So how does radar keep bats away? The researchers explained that a great deal of research suggests that people can actually hear radar pulses.
"This was noticed when radar arrays first started up during World War II," Racey said. "A portion of radar operators said they heard clicks in their ears when they were switched on."
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Radar signals can lead to small but rapid spikes of heat in the head that generate sound waves, which in turn stimulate the ear.
"A bat's hearing is much more sensitive than ours," Racey noted. "It may be so sensitive that even a tiny amount of sound caused by electromagnetic radiation is enough to drive them out of there."
Future research can design a radar system optimized at deterring bats.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Letter to Council- Sister Bonnie Bethany Place
To the Municipal Council of the District of Digby
And the Members of the Planning Advisory Committee (PAC)
July 15,2009
Dear Warden; Councilors, and PAC Members:
As you are aware, we at Bethany Place have a couple of concerns regarding the
placement of the wind turbines so near to our place of residence. One is the disturbance
of our source of water as we are on a gravity fed dug well.
Another concern is the continuous noise from the rotation of the blades on the turbines
2417. Our ministry at the house is one of , sponsoring Quiet Days and Retreat Days tor
individuals and small groups. The incessant whir from the turbines could significantly
interfere with a person's quiet and sense of peace and reflection. If this should happen
then our ministry of hospitality and prayer would virtually have to cease. Should this
happen we would have no other option but to try to sell our property at a reduced price as
real estate prices will drop considerably and relocate somewhere else in the province.
Should we have to move from this area that would mean the outreach and ministry that
eminates from the Bethany Bargain Bin at 125 First Avenue would conceivably cease to
function. This, I believe, would bave a significant impact on the surrounding community
of Digby and area as we exist to meet the needs of people that Society Services and other
agencies don't meet. People in need of furniture, household items, etc., are given these
items to assist them in settling into new residences/apartments. We help people cover
their rents, fuels bills, telephone bills, medications, dental work, glasses and food that
isn't available at the local food bank.
We also assist the food bank:financially; we assist Juniper House Outreach; we assist
people referred to us from Family Resources and Social Services and Mental Health. We
support the Breakfast program at the Digby Elementary School. Should our ministry and
outreach cease to exist these services would have to be picked up by others in the
community.
Last year the Bethany Bargain Bin generated $49,260,.50 into the local economy. Ijust
mention this as I feel it is worth consideration when decisions are being made at your
council meetings regarding the placement of these wind turbines in our area. We feel that
the two that have been allocated near our property are placed toeclose to our home.
Respectfully sumitted,
~~~\~~\f).
Sister Bonnie, S.L.S.M.
And the Members of the Planning Advisory Committee (PAC)
July 15,2009
Dear Warden; Councilors, and PAC Members:
As you are aware, we at Bethany Place have a couple of concerns regarding the
placement of the wind turbines so near to our place of residence. One is the disturbance
of our source of water as we are on a gravity fed dug well.
Another concern is the continuous noise from the rotation of the blades on the turbines
2417. Our ministry at the house is one of , sponsoring Quiet Days and Retreat Days tor
individuals and small groups. The incessant whir from the turbines could significantly
interfere with a person's quiet and sense of peace and reflection. If this should happen
then our ministry of hospitality and prayer would virtually have to cease. Should this
happen we would have no other option but to try to sell our property at a reduced price as
real estate prices will drop considerably and relocate somewhere else in the province.
Should we have to move from this area that would mean the outreach and ministry that
eminates from the Bethany Bargain Bin at 125 First Avenue would conceivably cease to
function. This, I believe, would bave a significant impact on the surrounding community
of Digby and area as we exist to meet the needs of people that Society Services and other
agencies don't meet. People in need of furniture, household items, etc., are given these
items to assist them in settling into new residences/apartments. We help people cover
their rents, fuels bills, telephone bills, medications, dental work, glasses and food that
isn't available at the local food bank.
We also assist the food bank:financially; we assist Juniper House Outreach; we assist
people referred to us from Family Resources and Social Services and Mental Health. We
support the Breakfast program at the Digby Elementary School. Should our ministry and
outreach cease to exist these services would have to be picked up by others in the
community.
Last year the Bethany Bargain Bin generated $49,260,.50 into the local economy. Ijust
mention this as I feel it is worth consideration when decisions are being made at your
council meetings regarding the placement of these wind turbines in our area. We feel that
the two that have been allocated near our property are placed toeclose to our home.
Respectfully sumitted,
~~~\~~\f).
Sister Bonnie, S.L.S.M.
An Open Letter from Tom
Digby Municipality: Kindly distribute a copy of this to all the councilors.
To Maritza Adams, District #2 Councilor, Municipality of Digby
Dear Maritza,
I thank you for your work on our behalf as our
elected municipal councilor. However, here in your District #2 on the
south shore of St. Mary's Bay, I have heard rumours
that you are not supportive of the Wind By-law. I do hope that these rumours
are without foundation.
As a District #2 resident, voter and
businessman, I respectfully ask that you support the Wind Energy By-law.
I make this appeal because of my support for quality of life and quality of the
environment within our larger area around St. Mary’s Bay and my ongoing active
support for the development of sustainable economic development, the type which
enhances rather than diminishes this quality of life within the beautiful but
delicate SW Nova Biosphere Reserve of which we are a part.
More specifically, this wind park on Digby Neck
will directly and negatively impact businesses in your district #2, despite
being far from the proposed Digby Neck site. So I also ask for your
support of the Wind By-law because of the impact that this wind farm blemish on
the Digby Neck environment will certainly have on my Japanese Art
Gallery business and many
other businesses in your district.
A high percentage of my gallery customers
drop in as they drive through Route 1 and 101 on their way to or from
Digby Neck and Islands, drawn here from around
the world to this area because of its natural beauty and accessibility and
because of its inclusion in the UNESCO designated Biosphere Reserve.
In past years, I have seen as much as a 50% drop in my
business caused by disruptions on Digby Neck such as resurfacing
the road down the Neck and/or Islands.
Thousands of tourists chose to avoid the St. Mary's Bay area entirely. They
chose the South Shore route when they learned from Nova
Scotia Tourist Bureau personnel of possible disruptions to traffic on Digby
Neck during that period of heavy equipment use on route 217.
The construction and maintenance of this
wind park will certainly impact businesses throughout your voter district here
on this south side of St. Mary's Bay in like manner but in a much more drastic
fashion and for a much more sustained period of time. As our local councillor
accountable
to us as voters, we ask your help in preventing this.
Digby Neck and Islands
is unique and will draw people through our district #2 for years to come IF not
blemished by industrial desecration and greed. This will happen if wise voters
and equally wise and visionary councilors choose by-laws to protect the
sustainability of our lands and coastlines and sea while promoting
environmentally sustainable industry and jobs.
I am not opposed to wind energy. I am opposed to wind energy located
purely for
reasons of maximizing corporate profit within people's dwelling space
when there is so much non-dwelling space where such equipment could be located,
for example, in the upper-Sissiboo
River watershed.
Based on your vote as my
representative on this By-law issue and subsequent decisions you will make on
environmentally sustainable economic growth during the rest of your term as
councilor, as a voter and activist seeking environmentally sustainable jobs for
our municipality I look forward to the possibility of promoting your candidacy
for re-election in my district in the next municipal election.
I do wish to hear your thoughts,
Maritza, on these issues and await your timely response to my views and to
my specific request for your support on this By-law issue on which so many have
worked for so long.
With kind regards,
Tom
Tom Haynes-Paton
Japanese Woodblock Prints & Antiques Gallery
PO Box 11, Barton, B0W1H0, Nova Scotia
902-245-2347 Japanesegallery@gmail.com
website japanesewoodblockprints.ca
To Maritza Adams, District #2 Councilor, Municipality of Digby
Dear Maritza,
I thank you for your work on our behalf as our
elected municipal councilor. However, here in your District #2 on the
south shore of St. Mary's Bay, I have heard rumours
that you are not supportive of the Wind By-law. I do hope that these rumours
are without foundation.
As a District #2 resident, voter and
businessman, I respectfully ask that you support the Wind Energy By-law.
I make this appeal because of my support for quality of life and quality of the
environment within our larger area around St. Mary’s Bay and my ongoing active
support for the development of sustainable economic development, the type which
enhances rather than diminishes this quality of life within the beautiful but
delicate SW Nova Biosphere Reserve of which we are a part.
More specifically, this wind park on Digby Neck
will directly and negatively impact businesses in your district #2, despite
being far from the proposed Digby Neck site. So I also ask for your
support of the Wind By-law because of the impact that this wind farm blemish on
the Digby Neck environment will certainly have on my Japanese Art
Gallery business and many
other businesses in your district.
A high percentage of my gallery customers
drop in as they drive through Route 1 and 101 on their way to or from
Digby Neck and Islands, drawn here from around
the world to this area because of its natural beauty and accessibility and
because of its inclusion in the UNESCO designated Biosphere Reserve.
In past years, I have seen as much as a 50% drop in my
business caused by disruptions on Digby Neck such as resurfacing
the road down the Neck and/or Islands.
Thousands of tourists chose to avoid the St. Mary's Bay area entirely. They
chose the South Shore route when they learned from Nova
Scotia Tourist Bureau personnel of possible disruptions to traffic on Digby
Neck during that period of heavy equipment use on route 217.
The construction and maintenance of this
wind park will certainly impact businesses throughout your voter district here
on this south side of St. Mary's Bay in like manner but in a much more drastic
fashion and for a much more sustained period of time. As our local councillor
accountable
to us as voters, we ask your help in preventing this.
Digby Neck and Islands
is unique and will draw people through our district #2 for years to come IF not
blemished by industrial desecration and greed. This will happen if wise voters
and equally wise and visionary councilors choose by-laws to protect the
sustainability of our lands and coastlines and sea while promoting
environmentally sustainable industry and jobs.
I am not opposed to wind energy. I am opposed to wind energy located
purely for
reasons of maximizing corporate profit within people's dwelling space
when there is so much non-dwelling space where such equipment could be located,
for example, in the upper-Sissiboo
River watershed.
Based on your vote as my
representative on this By-law issue and subsequent decisions you will make on
environmentally sustainable economic growth during the rest of your term as
councilor, as a voter and activist seeking environmentally sustainable jobs for
our municipality I look forward to the possibility of promoting your candidacy
for re-election in my district in the next municipal election.
I do wish to hear your thoughts,
Maritza, on these issues and await your timely response to my views and to
my specific request for your support on this By-law issue on which so many have
worked for so long.
With kind regards,
Tom
Tom Haynes-Paton
Japanese Woodblock Prints & Antiques Gallery
PO Box 11, Barton, B0W1H0, Nova Scotia
902-245-2347 Japanesegallery@gmail.com
website japanesewoodblockprints.ca
Friday, July 17, 2009
Letter to Council
Re: Society Of Our Lady Saint. Mary
To The Municipal Council of the District of Digby,
And to the Members of the Planning Advisory Committee (PAC).
July 14,2009 (Bastille Day)
Dear Warden, Councilors, and PAC Members:
When it comes to a discussion about The Wind Farm Project for Digby Neck, it is no secret that I am not on the same page as you- or most of you- seem to be. That’s what makes Canada the greatest country in the world in which to truly live: citizens are allowed to think, to question, to oppose, and nonetheless be in solidarity as a nation.
.Differ as we may, I find it hard to believe that we would differ on the work of the Society of Our Lady Saint Mary , better known to us as Bethany Place in Rossway, and the Bethany Bargain Bin in Digby. On August 15th., the Society will celebrate its thirtieth anniversary in the Municipality of the District of Digby. They deserve commendation and praise for that alone. (They are an Anglican Society with many lay members.)
These are no “Fly-By-Nighter Do-Gooders” by any means. Sister Bonnie has been here the full thirty years, and Sister Barbara for two decades or more. In the light of the work they have done and continue to do, they are the greatest gift to the economy of the people that we have in our midst- bar none! Whatever the situation may be, they are there in time of need with a compassionate ear and succor. Our paid institutions are not always so ready and available to respond on such short notice, if indeed at all.
You, perhaps better than I, know their history. When I returned to this place I embraced almost fifty years ago for the first time, they were caring for elderly and handicapped people. They operated a Shuttle Service for those on limited incomes and no transportation on the Neck until, I understand, insurance became cost prohibitive.
Their next caring Ministry began in a house in Conway with the establishment of the Bethany Bargain Bin where we can bring in our no longer needed items of clothing, pots
and pans, furniture and all and any clean and useful household items sparing them from the fate of the landfill, and offering them for minimal prices to all and any who need them.
It wasn’t long before a move to the larger facility was needed, a building which they bought a couple of years ago.
We know their work well. Many young people and not-so-young too, have learned an appreciation for music from Sr. Bonnie who offers piano lessons at her home. We know her dedication to choirs and congregations in area Churches where she offers her skills at the organ and in voice. School concerts, and whenever, she is there.
We know that she and Sister Barbara open their beautiful Chapel to women and men of all faiths and none for Retreats, Spiritual Conferences, Prayer Days, and times of reflection and meditation. We know that they have a small Hermitage on their property in the isolation and solitude of nature. People come from near and far and spend days, weeks, and months at times to stop and listen to God speaking to them in the silence.
The world is a noisy place; our minds are a noisy place; our homes are a noisy place; and the place and world in which we work, a cacophony! The pressure of the times on our lives in relationships ,families, at work, and in the community are ominous! Broken marriages, drug alcohol abuse, addictions, and spousal aberrations loudly testify to that. Respite is a rare commodity indeed!
Bethany Place in Rossway is indeed a haven for many. A place of spirituality and prayer, it draws men and women of all faiths and none to come and be alone with their God – a place to quell the noise a while and to come in touch Him/Her. The gift is the silence.
There are few if any places like it in our midst where one can participate in a directed
Spiritual retreat alone or with the many, or can experience the hermitage life style for a bit and wander the woodlands, or take to the orchards to the south on to St.Mary’s Bay.
The silence that alone can put men and women in touch with God is threatened now by the prospect of a four hundred foot wind blowing apparatus whizzing and whining and droning twenty four hours a day a mere six hundred meters away on a hillside, dropping down its monotonous din , it’s flicker, and even the risk of ice thrown off a blade on the retreatant wandering too closely to it.
To erect such a monstrous machine there is to kill the silence, and to drive our God away.
God does not speak in noise and confusion, but only to the quiet, settled heart. It is with
this in mind that I appeal to Council and to the PAC to invoke the utmost manifestation of respect, goodness, and decency for this holy gathering place and deny the proponent
such near proximity to Bethany Place.
In copying this to them, I too beg them to comply. “Man does not live on bread alone.”
I request this letter be on the agenda of the Meeting on July 20,2009.
Daniel Mills
9396 Waterford
RR 4, Digby NS
BOV 1AO
CC Linda Fraser CAO for circulation to Warden,Councilors, and PAC
Harold Theriault Jr. MLA
Darrell Dexter, Premier of NS
Hon.Sterling Belliveau, Minister of the Environment
To The Municipal Council of the District of Digby,
And to the Members of the Planning Advisory Committee (PAC).
July 14,2009 (Bastille Day)
Dear Warden, Councilors, and PAC Members:
When it comes to a discussion about The Wind Farm Project for Digby Neck, it is no secret that I am not on the same page as you- or most of you- seem to be. That’s what makes Canada the greatest country in the world in which to truly live: citizens are allowed to think, to question, to oppose, and nonetheless be in solidarity as a nation.
.Differ as we may, I find it hard to believe that we would differ on the work of the Society of Our Lady Saint Mary , better known to us as Bethany Place in Rossway, and the Bethany Bargain Bin in Digby. On August 15th., the Society will celebrate its thirtieth anniversary in the Municipality of the District of Digby. They deserve commendation and praise for that alone. (They are an Anglican Society with many lay members.)
These are no “Fly-By-Nighter Do-Gooders” by any means. Sister Bonnie has been here the full thirty years, and Sister Barbara for two decades or more. In the light of the work they have done and continue to do, they are the greatest gift to the economy of the people that we have in our midst- bar none! Whatever the situation may be, they are there in time of need with a compassionate ear and succor. Our paid institutions are not always so ready and available to respond on such short notice, if indeed at all.
You, perhaps better than I, know their history. When I returned to this place I embraced almost fifty years ago for the first time, they were caring for elderly and handicapped people. They operated a Shuttle Service for those on limited incomes and no transportation on the Neck until, I understand, insurance became cost prohibitive.
Their next caring Ministry began in a house in Conway with the establishment of the Bethany Bargain Bin where we can bring in our no longer needed items of clothing, pots
and pans, furniture and all and any clean and useful household items sparing them from the fate of the landfill, and offering them for minimal prices to all and any who need them.
It wasn’t long before a move to the larger facility was needed, a building which they bought a couple of years ago.
We know their work well. Many young people and not-so-young too, have learned an appreciation for music from Sr. Bonnie who offers piano lessons at her home. We know her dedication to choirs and congregations in area Churches where she offers her skills at the organ and in voice. School concerts, and whenever, she is there.
We know that she and Sister Barbara open their beautiful Chapel to women and men of all faiths and none for Retreats, Spiritual Conferences, Prayer Days, and times of reflection and meditation. We know that they have a small Hermitage on their property in the isolation and solitude of nature. People come from near and far and spend days, weeks, and months at times to stop and listen to God speaking to them in the silence.
The world is a noisy place; our minds are a noisy place; our homes are a noisy place; and the place and world in which we work, a cacophony! The pressure of the times on our lives in relationships ,families, at work, and in the community are ominous! Broken marriages, drug alcohol abuse, addictions, and spousal aberrations loudly testify to that. Respite is a rare commodity indeed!
Bethany Place in Rossway is indeed a haven for many. A place of spirituality and prayer, it draws men and women of all faiths and none to come and be alone with their God – a place to quell the noise a while and to come in touch Him/Her. The gift is the silence.
There are few if any places like it in our midst where one can participate in a directed
Spiritual retreat alone or with the many, or can experience the hermitage life style for a bit and wander the woodlands, or take to the orchards to the south on to St.Mary’s Bay.
The silence that alone can put men and women in touch with God is threatened now by the prospect of a four hundred foot wind blowing apparatus whizzing and whining and droning twenty four hours a day a mere six hundred meters away on a hillside, dropping down its monotonous din , it’s flicker, and even the risk of ice thrown off a blade on the retreatant wandering too closely to it.
To erect such a monstrous machine there is to kill the silence, and to drive our God away.
God does not speak in noise and confusion, but only to the quiet, settled heart. It is with
this in mind that I appeal to Council and to the PAC to invoke the utmost manifestation of respect, goodness, and decency for this holy gathering place and deny the proponent
such near proximity to Bethany Place.
In copying this to them, I too beg them to comply. “Man does not live on bread alone.”
I request this letter be on the agenda of the Meeting on July 20,2009.
Daniel Mills
9396 Waterford
RR 4, Digby NS
BOV 1AO
CC Linda Fraser CAO for circulation to Warden,Councilors, and PAC
Harold Theriault Jr. MLA
Darrell Dexter, Premier of NS
Hon.Sterling Belliveau, Minister of the Environment
An Appeal to the Community
The race is now a Marathon.....On Monday, July 20th. at 8 PM 3 of 5 Municipal Councilors will make a decision, or defer it to later, about the future of our Wind By-Law.....
We need prayers; we need e-mails; we need people to fill the hallowed chamber.
Yes, 3 people will decide the future for 8,000 people in the Municipality....The Warden is walking off the job for a 2 month Leave of Absence tomorrow; and Councilor Amero of Weymouth,(does he take a cut in pay?) is exempted for conflict of interest.....quite a kettle of stinky fiah 'ain't it?"
Attached a couple of letters from today's Digby Courier......both very timely and very good.
I am sure the Digby Courier would be pleaed to host your letters from wherever you are...If you have visited Digby Neck and/or live here full or part time, wouldn't it be good to fill a page with letters asking the Council/Planning Advisory Committee to stand up for Digby neck.....
Emails to Councilors@municipality.digby.ns.ca or editor@digbycourier.ca (by 10 AM tomorrow)
Councilor Linda Gregory will vote to pass the by-law built over the past year or so;
Jimmy MacAlpine will be acting warden, and would be called upon to break a tie.
Meritza Adams seems to favor letting the by-law fail.
No better time than now "to come to the aid of your country!"
If I am (starting) to bug you, let me know, but I've come to love the people of this place so much I don't want to see their way of life destroyed....There are many of us having sleepless nights. Small business'in Gullivers Cove could be in jeopardy; Bethany Place, with all it's apostolic work, may be forced to close and leave the area.( You can't operate a Centre of Spirituality with retreats etc.,etc. under constant noise, nor a hermitage......Their charitable works are well known over the past 30 years and as I've written to Council,
"noise could drive out our God because God cannot fill noisy,troubled hearts"...They are the best friend of the poor,the needy, those on the fringes of society and the bureaucratic entities and cliques.....
I'm 73; my years here have been wonderful. Being alone with no blood ties here, makes it easy for me to pack up and leave, but who would give me a return on my money on my home and lot with turbines whizzing relentlessly for the next 20 years? A million dollar view? Of course, and more, to wit, the bond of friendship and support I find in this community. But the thought of unrelenting noise obliterates all that.Rather than sell the place for next to nothing, I feel compelled to tear it down to make sure our Council derives no tax dollars from it in perpetuity.....save a pittance for the land....
Should the wind by-law die, then it will be open house until the slaughter is complete by competing Wind Developers all along the Neck. That's what Barry Zwicker, one of the Windfield Big Wigs had in mind when he told our Council that they screwed up; drop the by-law; "Let us come to help you!" Have you known such arrogance in your life?
It's the 11th hour. It's not too late to make a difference....
A hundred thousand apologies for ranting, but I am very angry.
If you need more info,get back to me on email or phone 902-245-5171...I'm in for the rest of the day.....
Please know, I am not a self-appointed representative of anyone. I'm doing my own gig here because I have to.I am dancing to my own drummer despite the Warden's statement to the contrary...danny
We need prayers; we need e-mails; we need people to fill the hallowed chamber.
Yes, 3 people will decide the future for 8,000 people in the Municipality....The Warden is walking off the job for a 2 month Leave of Absence tomorrow; and Councilor Amero of Weymouth,(does he take a cut in pay?) is exempted for conflict of interest.....quite a kettle of stinky fiah 'ain't it?"
Attached a couple of letters from today's Digby Courier......both very timely and very good.
I am sure the Digby Courier would be pleaed to host your letters from wherever you are...If you have visited Digby Neck and/or live here full or part time, wouldn't it be good to fill a page with letters asking the Council/Planning Advisory Committee to stand up for Digby neck.....
Emails to Councilors@municipality.digby.ns.ca or editor@digbycourier.ca (by 10 AM tomorrow)
Councilor Linda Gregory will vote to pass the by-law built over the past year or so;
Jimmy MacAlpine will be acting warden, and would be called upon to break a tie.
Meritza Adams seems to favor letting the by-law fail.
No better time than now "to come to the aid of your country!"
If I am (starting) to bug you, let me know, but I've come to love the people of this place so much I don't want to see their way of life destroyed....There are many of us having sleepless nights. Small business'in Gullivers Cove could be in jeopardy; Bethany Place, with all it's apostolic work, may be forced to close and leave the area.( You can't operate a Centre of Spirituality with retreats etc.,etc. under constant noise, nor a hermitage......Their charitable works are well known over the past 30 years and as I've written to Council,
"noise could drive out our God because God cannot fill noisy,troubled hearts"...They are the best friend of the poor,the needy, those on the fringes of society and the bureaucratic entities and cliques.....
I'm 73; my years here have been wonderful. Being alone with no blood ties here, makes it easy for me to pack up and leave, but who would give me a return on my money on my home and lot with turbines whizzing relentlessly for the next 20 years? A million dollar view? Of course, and more, to wit, the bond of friendship and support I find in this community. But the thought of unrelenting noise obliterates all that.Rather than sell the place for next to nothing, I feel compelled to tear it down to make sure our Council derives no tax dollars from it in perpetuity.....save a pittance for the land....
Should the wind by-law die, then it will be open house until the slaughter is complete by competing Wind Developers all along the Neck. That's what Barry Zwicker, one of the Windfield Big Wigs had in mind when he told our Council that they screwed up; drop the by-law; "Let us come to help you!" Have you known such arrogance in your life?
It's the 11th hour. It's not too late to make a difference....
A hundred thousand apologies for ranting, but I am very angry.
If you need more info,get back to me on email or phone 902-245-5171...I'm in for the rest of the day.....
Please know, I am not a self-appointed representative of anyone. I'm doing my own gig here because I have to.I am dancing to my own drummer despite the Warden's statement to the contrary...danny
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Tourism and Turbines
Turbines
vs. tourism
WIND energy proponents continue their campaign
of "greenwashing" as evidenced by the
article "Wind power has big potential" in your July
10edition.
The "win-win" parties alluded to in the article
would not include those of us living in small rural
communities like Pugwash, where a proposed 17-
turbine complex has many residents up in arms
because ofthe threat it poses to the local economy.
One of the critical economic drivers for Pugwash
is "destination tourism." Thousands of cottagers
and retirees come here for the warm-water beaches,
championship golf course and beautiful surroundings.
Local businesses that provide essential services
to the community cannot survive without the profits
from this summer population spike.
Wind energy proponents deny that those seeking
beauty and serenity would be dissuaded from investing
in an area dominated by a noisy and intrusive
turbine complex.
Indeed, some even argue that turbines are themselves
tourist attractions, implying, incredulously,
that those wishing to invest in a recreation/retirement
property, or even a two -week vacation, would
seek out a wind turbine complex to maximize their
enjoyment.
Pugwash can have a wind turbine complex promising
two jobs or "destination tourism" promising
200jobs, but not both. There is no "win-win" here.
Richard M. Gray, Pugwash
------------~--,-~-~--------~~------
vs. tourism
WIND energy proponents continue their campaign
of "greenwashing" as evidenced by the
article "Wind power has big potential" in your July
10edition.
The "win-win" parties alluded to in the article
would not include those of us living in small rural
communities like Pugwash, where a proposed 17-
turbine complex has many residents up in arms
because ofthe threat it poses to the local economy.
One of the critical economic drivers for Pugwash
is "destination tourism." Thousands of cottagers
and retirees come here for the warm-water beaches,
championship golf course and beautiful surroundings.
Local businesses that provide essential services
to the community cannot survive without the profits
from this summer population spike.
Wind energy proponents deny that those seeking
beauty and serenity would be dissuaded from investing
in an area dominated by a noisy and intrusive
turbine complex.
Indeed, some even argue that turbines are themselves
tourist attractions, implying, incredulously,
that those wishing to invest in a recreation/retirement
property, or even a two -week vacation, would
seek out a wind turbine complex to maximize their
enjoyment.
Pugwash can have a wind turbine complex promising
two jobs or "destination tourism" promising
200jobs, but not both. There is no "win-win" here.
Richard M. Gray, Pugwash
------------~--,-~-~--------~~------
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Danny's Letter to the Editor
Bethany Place will soon celebrate its 30th.year of truly gracing not only the Municipality of the District of Digby, but environs near and far.An amazing grace indeed has befallen the people of Digby County.
The two Religious women minister unflappably in each and every situation- to all who come to their door:the poor,the destitute,the needy,the lonely,the body-broken, and the sick at heart.
What "fuels" them? Thirty years is a very long time. They are no "fly-by-nighters!" Of course, their nurture comes from God with Whom they unite themselves in prayer on-going. They are fed by the silDigby ence of the place where they live, the beauty of the planet just around them.
They too draw others into their prayer-life with members of all denominations or none from far and wide, and at home. They have spiritual retreats, a small hermitage on site, for those who seek solitude
in their search for meaning and for God. God is the source of their multifaceted ministry.
The solitude which many come to seek is threatened now by the prospect of a 400 foot wind turbine spinning behind their home- noisily day in and day out! That is hardly a gift from God!
I hope and pray that many who have come to know and love these dedicated women, and who have been graced by them over so many years, will write to our Municipal Council in protest, and write to the Dept. of the Environment before it is too late.
Daniel Mills
The two Religious women minister unflappably in each and every situation- to all who come to their door:the poor,the destitute,the needy,the lonely,the body-broken, and the sick at heart.
What "fuels" them? Thirty years is a very long time. They are no "fly-by-nighters!" Of course, their nurture comes from God with Whom they unite themselves in prayer on-going. They are fed by the silDigby ence of the place where they live, the beauty of the planet just around them.
They too draw others into their prayer-life with members of all denominations or none from far and wide, and at home. They have spiritual retreats, a small hermitage on site, for those who seek solitude
in their search for meaning and for God. God is the source of their multifaceted ministry.
The solitude which many come to seek is threatened now by the prospect of a 400 foot wind turbine spinning behind their home- noisily day in and day out! That is hardly a gift from God!
I hope and pray that many who have come to know and love these dedicated women, and who have been graced by them over so many years, will write to our Municipal Council in protest, and write to the Dept. of the Environment before it is too late.
Daniel Mills
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