An Ontario court says that landowners near a proposed wind farm have suffered diminished property values.

April 23, 2013 | John Spears | The Star

An Ontario court says that landowners near a proposed wind farm have suffered diminished property values.
A lawyer for the landowners says the decision will clear the way for more actions against both wind developers and those who lease their land for wind turbines.

But a spokesman for the wind power company says the evidence that the court heard was “speculative,” and the proceedings never reached the point where core issues were addressed.

The ruling by Madam Justice S.E. Healey dismissed the claims by a group of landowners in the Collingwood area who sued both wpd Canada Corp. and a farm corporation that signed lease agreements with wpd.

The dismissal is based on the fact that the proposed eight-turbine Fairview Wind Project hasn’t yet received environmental approval.

“The plaintiffs are unable to prove, currently, that the Fairview Wind Project will be built,” Healey wrote in her decision (emphasis in the original).

But she did accept that damage has been done.

“Even though in this case the court accepts that the plaintiffs have suffered, and are currently suffering, losses culminating in diminished property values, as the evidence exists today the plaintiffs are unable to prove that they have been wronged by the defendants,” she wrote.

Healey noted that the landowners near the proposed wind farms had submitted expert opinion estimating that drop in land values of 20 to 50 per cent.

She said the landowners can file a damage claim when the project clears all of its regulatory approvals.

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