There will be a celebration Saturday (Oct. 21) at Collingwood Regional Airport to mark the successful fight against a proposed wind turbine farm next to the airport. The party will be held from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and is expected to draw a lot of pilots and members of the public.

“Drive in or fly in. We expect pilots from around central Ontario,” said Kevin Ellwood, a local councillor and commercial pilot who fought the proposal.

Two weeks ago wpd Canada told a local radio station that it was abandoning its Clearview turbine project after an Environmental Review Tribunal revoked its approvals based on its risk to human health.

COPA’s Freedom to Fly Fund was used to help prepare the case against the turbines based on the risk they pose to aircraft in the circuit at Collingwood and a nearby private strip in Stayner.

“It’s the first time anyone has received a revocation of an approval and the first time on the basis of human health,” the Enterprise Bulletin quoted Ellwood as reporting to Clearview council Oct. 16. “It’s important for our airport and it has national significance.

“It’s a significant ruling for the protection of aerodromes across Canada.”

The turbine company had received approval under Ontario’s Green Energy Act to put up the eight 150-metre turbines near Collingwood Airport, some directly in the flight path of aircraft in the circuit. Although there was vocal opposition to the project from the majority of people in the community and all local political bodies but the Act has broad powers to ignore those concerns. The Environmental Review Tribunal was the only avenue of appeal and took the concerns, including those voiced by COPA, to heart.