CENTRE WELLINGTON – Council in Centre Wellington is keeping their options open in terms of battery energy storage systems on prime agricultural land within the township.
Following a previous meeting in which Aypa Power presented one of the storage systems for Elora, staff were presented with a second proposal for prime ag land in Belwood.
While much of the discussion revolved around protecting ag land, Mayor Shawn Watters says he sees the other side of the issue as well, a need to accommodate a rapidly growing population.
Janet Harrop, past president of the Wellington Federation of Agriculture was on hand for the meeting Monday, and says the soil would never recover from one of these systems being placed on it.
Councillor Barb Evoy reiterated council’s commitment to protecting prime ag land.
Watters said council’s decision to leave the door open for these applications is a preliminary move to many steps still to come.
After much debate and a poll of staff, council voted in favour of a municipal council support resolution for both Aypa Power and the secondary application from Alectra Energy Solutions. The proposals will return to council at a future meeting.
