Largest wind farm in Nova Scotia planned for Vaughan

The South Canoe wind project in Vaughan will be the largest wind farm in Nova Scotia when it goes on the grid in 2015, but not everyone is celebrating the project.

The 50 turbines will provide 102 megawatts of electricity, enough for about 28,000 people.

The South Canoe project has already received environmental approval. The province plans to have 40 per cent of power generated from renewable sources by 2020.

"We do have to look to the future and it may not effect our generation in that they're currently being built, but it's for the generation that comes after us that these are going to benefit," said resident Debbie Innes.

"I just see them as a resource that we, as Nova Scotians, have to invest in."

Vaughan is a small community in Hants County with only a few hundred year-round citizens, most of the people that come to the area's lakes are cottage dwellers.

Susan Deal's family has lived on a small farm in Vaughan for four generations. Her property will look straight out at the proposed turbines.

"Tell me how green it is to go in and put in an industrialized site, it's green now. With trees gone and with infra-red sound in the environment... you've got more trucks on the road, more fuel emissions, how green is that?" said Deal.

The turbines will be positioned at least 1.2 kilometres from any homes, but that's not far enough for resident Steve Porter.

"The immensity of the project, the size, the scale, as well as the concerns for health are probably the largest issues for us," he said.

Dissenters don't have much time to voice their concerns. Construction is scheduled to start next year and finish before 2015.

The wind project's developers, Oxford Frozen Foods and Minas Basin Pulp and Power out of Hantsport, are new to the wind power industry in Nova Scotia.