People in western P.E.I. say the government did not give them a voice before it allowed a German company, NewEn, to lease land for a proposed wind farm in the Anglo Tignish area.

"First of all, I don't want to see 30 to 50 windmills around my house," Gina MacLeod told Debbie Horne of the West Prince Graphic in Alberton. "The transmission lines are right there, less than 100 feet from our house. The biggest thing for me is if there is any risk at all, then I don't want to have it near my family."

Ms. MacLeod said she and her husband, Trent, decided to build their home close to North Cape because they thought it was a safe place to raise their three preschool children. Now she's concerned about the effects of the electromagnetic field from the transmission line and its potential to cause leukemia and brain cancer in young children.

"We as citizens should not have to worry about these issues. We elect our government officials who are there to serve us before they give permission for foreign companies to come into our area and make drastic changes. We as residents should have been notified and informed."

While people had heard that landowners were trying to get windmills, meetings did not involve local small landowners.

"We're not against wind energy but there was so much secrecy around this," Ms. MacLeod said. "It's like we don't have a voice anymore."

A representative of NewEn, Jamie Ballum, said the company has enough land leased to build the wind farm. As for concerns about the location of transmission lines, he said that is the responsibility of Maritime Electric.

Ms. MacLeod said she would like to see laws regulating transmission of power updated.

The Municipality of Digby is taking steps to regulate the development of wind farms. It has hired environmental consultants to develop a wind turbine bylaw.

Digby Courier reporter Jeanne Whitehead writes that 4Site Group will consider the placement of wind turbines and issues such as acceptable location, minimum distance between windmills and buildings, and the minimum acceptable setback from the road.

There are three wind turbines in the county, at Mount Pleasant, East Ferry and Little Brook. The municipality hopes the bylaw will protect people from problems such as noise in future developments.

People in Margaretsville, Annapolis County, are learning to make water conservation a way of life after a serious shortage last fall.

"We've been busy all this winter educating ourselves about the water system," Amy Skelton, a volunteer with the Margaretsville Water Supply Committee, told Heather Killen of the Annapolis County Spectator.

She said the municipality has changed the system's primary water supply and is using a pond as a secondary source to increase the amount of water and provide a better storage system than in previous years.

But with limited sources of water, Ms. Skelton said the community could face another shortage this year. The answer, she said, is conservation. "I'm looking into ways to retrofit the community with super-energy-efficient, low-flow toilets and shower heads. I'm trying to access grant money to help offset the cost."

The community wants to hire a student to survey residents this summer to find out the best types of appliances and devices to reduce water consumption.

"I think we're all a bit guilty of wasting water," Ms. Skelton said. "I know last year I had a leaky faucet that I ignored until I realized how much water was being wasted."

Ms. Skelton would like to see Margaretsville lead the way in water conservation and develop a plan that could help other communities facing shortages.