East Gwillimbury
June 14, 2008 10:34 PM
By: Patrick Mangion
With developers of the controversial peaker plant circling East Gwillimbury, Mayor James Young is lending his name to a growing list of opposition intent on blocking it.
More than 200 people turned up in Holland Landing for a community meeting Thursday night to show their support for greener alternatives to the province’s plan to build a natural gas peaker plant somewhere in northern York Region within three years.
Three sites have been selected in East Gwillimbury by developers bidding to build the power plant — more than any other town being considered.
None of the proposed sites is located in Newmarket, Whitchurch-Stouffville or Simcoe.
After straddling the political middle ground for weeks, Mr. Young told the crowd they could count on his support to block the peaker plant.
It lines up the town with Georgina, who went a step further by declaring themselves an unwilling host to the plant.
“We want something much different than natural gas power generation. That’s the message I’ll take to council,” Mr. Young said in an interview.
For now, it is his own position, not council’s, he said.
But East Gwillimbury councillors could follow the mayor’s lead as early as tomorrow when the peaker plant is debated at council.
The turnout, combined with a number of questions and comments at Thursday’s meeting proved residents are deeply engaged in the issue, Mr. Young said.
Health impact and wasteful burning of natural gas were recurring resident concerns, Mr. Gibbons added.
The Ontario Power Authority has said the 350 megawatt peaker plant, which will operate 10 per cent of the time, is necessary to ensure adequate power supply for York Region’s high growth communities.
If all six northern York Region towns refuse the plant, Queen’s Park could be forced to decide its location or an expanded hydro transmission line could be re-visited, the power authority has warned.
“That’s just a scare tactic,” Mr. Gibbons said.
“There isn’t just two bad choices here.”
He denied residents are being given a sense of false hope, saying it’s still early on in the process and a peaker plant could still be scrapped with enough public opposition.
Local Tory MPPs Frank Klees and Julia Munro, along with Toronto NDP MPP Peter Tabuns have opposed it.
Meanwhile, the power authority will begin accepting bids from developers for the peaker this summer. It is expected to begin operation by 2011.