News - Letter to the Editor

The narrative of this blog is interrupted again to post community action news-- a recent Letter to the Editor.

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.

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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 Souris), turned out very differently.

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 Stratford. I know that no-one would “plan” a transmission line through here, or the City of Charlottetown. But there is no protection for my mother and her neighbours in Gowan Brae, who are left feeling frustrated, manipulated, disempowered, and abandoned.

We need a government that is going to protect all communities on Prince Edward Island.

Signed,

Dylan Mullally
Stratford

News -- A Community Petition

We interrupt the narrative of this blog to post some community action news.

One of my neighbours recently confirmed that the following petition, sent to the office of the Premier, and copied to the Minister of the Environment, Energy and Forestry, the CEO of the PEI Energy Corporation, the President (Customer Service) of Maritime Electric and the CEO of Fortis, has been received and signed for by all parties.

Three community members, one of whom was my brother Conor, secured signatures from 100% of permanent residents in the area (two renters abstained).

It cannot be said that this is not a concern for everyone in our community.

Our petition is below.

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Community of:

Grant Road / Souris River Road / New Zealand / Gowan Brae

Objection Registry

to the Maritime Electric High Voltage Transmission Line

We, the undersigned, hereby register our objection to the route of the Maritime Electric high voltage power transmission lines, erected through our community in the Fall 2006. Our concerns are summarized:

1. Our community, a longstanding residential area, is one of the more scenic areas on Prince Edward Island, with a spectacular view of the bay, ocean, and rural countrysides. Many of the residents in our community have purchased properties and homes with this attraction in mind; many have chosen to live raise families in the area because of the peace, quiet and safety the locale affords. A small rural subdivision is currently being developed for these reasons. Transmission lines which were routed through our community in the Fall 2006 dramatically detract from the desirability that this location offers.

2. Many in our community are concerned by the health hazards of electromagnetic radiation; all are affected by public perception of the effects of EMR (regardless of interpretation of the research), which significantly compromise property values.

3. We believe that alternative options were not adequately addressed logistically or from a cost-benefit perspective. We petition that resources be allocated for an alternative route for this section of the transmission line, and the problem immediately rectified.

[Signed by all residents of Grant Road/Souris River Road/Gowan Brae/New Zealand]