This was published in the The Charlottetown Guardian on June 2, 2007. It comes on the heels of a dramatic change in government on Prince Edward Island following the election on May 28. It is our hope this new administration will address the issue of the power lines in Grant Road/Gowan Brae, require the utility to move the line away from our residential area, and help and protect rural communities on Prince Edward Island.
It is our intention to resubmit the community petition to the new premier, Robert Ghiz.
* * *
The Weakening Rural Voice
Editor,
I applaud the fortitude and foresight of the Charlottetown City Council, who recently decided to block a proposed Mount Edward Road cellphone tower. In the city, we take it for granted that residential community needs take precedent over development.
But a similar battle which took place in my home community of Gowan Brae (near
The provincial government has worked with Maritime Electric to establish the power grid for high-profile Elmira Wind Test site. The grid is serviced by large poles (30 per cent higher than average), with significant voltage coursing through them. Unfortunately, the “planned” transmission route cuts through the beautiful and safe community where I grew up.
For one year, Gowan Brae residents voiced concerns over the link between cancer and electromagnetic radiation and the depreciation of land values in the community. The latter is significant, as land is the main financial asset for most. We have brought these issues to Kings County MLA Andy Mooney, Environment, Energy, and Forestry Minister Jamie Ballem, Premier Pat Binns, and other government representatives. These individuals have merely left us to work with Maritime Electric and find a bypass for the transmission line.
In recent weeks, the company has decided changes to this line can not fall outside their project budget. They, too, have walked, leaving a rural community to pay a collective price so that they may meet their projected profit target.
Islanders might well question the monopoly privilege enjoyed by Maritime Electric, who are ostensibly willing to put profit over community welfare. But more alarming, is how residents of this community were left without benefit of protective policy or government representation in this process.
I am a current resident of
We need a government that is going to protect all communities on
Signed,
Dylan Mullally
