Heather Wright/The Independent

Brooke-Alvinston councillors at an open house for a proposed wind development Thursday said the people they talked to don’t want the project in their community.

Venfor Inc. first started talking about the possibilities in 2024 and is now working to submit a bid for a 40-turbine, 300-megawatt project in December.

Venfor officials says 20 of the turbines will be in Brooke-Alvinston, mainly north and west of Alvinston. The towers are expected to be about 120 meters tall.

According to Ontario law, developers need letters of support from the municipalities involved. So far, Brooke-Alvinston councillors have been wary and dismissive of the project. 

Councillors Jenny Redick and Craig Sanders were among the people reading the information boards at the community centre. They said every resident they talked to at the meeting opposed Venfor’s proposal.

“I’ve heard a big, fat no,” said Redick.

“I’ve probably got 20, 25 calls in the past week, and they’ve all been negative,” said Sanders.

Redick added she had yet to hear from one of the landowners who had signed leases with Venfor.

The opposition to the project spread to the parking lot where a table with a petition and anti-wind signs were available.

Thursday was the second of three meetings Venfor will hold. It held an open house in Adelaide-Metcalfe Township Thursday. Staff there said 50 people attended. Only two voiced support for the development.

The final meeting will be held online Sept. 4 from 7 to 8 pm.

The meetings are part of an agreement Adelaide-Metcalfe and Brooke-Alvinston signed with the developer in March. Venfor agreed to produce and pay for a number of reports, including an agricultural impact study and host information meetings. 

The agreement has Venfor paying the municipalities’ legal fees as they work through the proposal but does not commit them to giving a letter of support.

Venfor Director Peter Budd says if the municipality does support the project it stands to gain up to $1 million in new revenue ~ half through a community fund, the other half in new tax revenue.

Previously Budd told council the community fund would be in the neighborhood of $300,000 to $400,000.