By Chloe Kneer – A group of Sables-Spanish Rivers Township residents, collectively known as The Massey Wildlife Conservation Committee, have organized to educate the public and lobby the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) to reject grants for a proposed industrial-scale energy project in the township. The funding announcements are scheduled to be made in April.
The committee currently has about a dozen founding members as it fights the Massey Solar Project, a massive 600-acre+ development on rural land (some of which is currently being farmed) that would span from Proctor to Beach Road on both sides of Birch Lake Road.
The idea to formally organize and push back on the project stems from a public delegation of two residents who presented at a regular council meeting in September of last year. Council chambers were packed with concerned ratepayers who had only found out about the project, the largest in the township’s history, after council had given municipal support for it. Most thought they should have been consulted for input beforehand, as the area, and the township at large, is known for its farmland, wildlife habitat and rural appeal.
The industrial solar project is set to be built on top of the township’s largest aquifer, which, in and of itself, poses significant environmental risks, according to the committee. The area is home to many species of birds and other wildlife who are on the Species at Risk Ontario list (June, 2025), including the Blandings Turtle, which over-winters in the waters. The turtles are known to travel up to 15 km every year to return to their wintering grounds.
The committee says that the danger isn’t limited to the immediate project area. Surrounding farms, up to several kilometres away, depend on the aquifer for their livestocks’ water supply. The tributaries from the aquifer extend as far as the Aux Sauble River, where the Town of Massey procures its water supply.
The committee asserts that birds that have been in observable decline for years, such as bobolinks, grasshopper sparrows, barn swallows, the endangered whippoorwill and many others will see crucial habitat destroyed if the project is allowed to move forward.
There is also concern that the ability for farmers to expand their operations will be extinguished in the area due to runoff and permanent contamination of soil. At the meeting in September, a local farmer told council that although the area isn’t zoned Agricultural, there is good farming soil there.
The township has enjoyed a resurgence in farming for the last two decades, and some feel that a project such as this will kneecap the effort to continue being known as a growing farming community. Others assert that property values will take a hit while construction (to be ongoing for 1.5 – 2 years) will impact the quiet landscape while degrading the gravel backroads. There are also potential safety issues with heavy equipment sharing the roads with bicycle and horse and buggy traffic.
At present, the comprehensive by-law in the township only allows for solar installations of up to 10kW. There are several of these located within the township already. However, the Massey Solar Project is slated to be 150,000 kW, which is well beyond what the current by-law permits and out of sync with the township’s Official Plan, says the committee.
The Massey Wildlife Conservation Committee is comprised of a diverse cross-section of the township’s population: retirees, small business and lodge owners, tradespeople, hobby and full-time farmers.
The committee is looking to add to its membership, discuss strategies for putting forth like-minded candidates in the upcoming municipal election and continue lobbying the IESO towards turning down grant requests from the project’s parent company, Potentia Renewables, most of whose solar projects in Ontario have been rooftop so far.
Membership inquiries can be emailed to: masseywildlife@gmail.com .
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