A second group of concerned Oxford residents are coalescing around health and safety concerns relating to wind turbines as a developer moves ahead with a second wind-farm site north of the city.

The group is coalescing around Prowind Canada Inc.'s proposal to build an 18-megawatt wind farm between the 15th and 17th lines of East Zorra-Tavistock north of Innerkip. Prowind held an information session on May 20 at the Innerkip Community Centre on the project, which is almost double the size of the proposed 10-megawatt wind farm the company wants to build on a Gunn's Hill Road property in Norwich.

Prowind's plans for Gunn's Hill Road have drawn plenty of public outcry and opposition from those saying the large wind turbines with their low-frequency vibrations and stray voltage cause health problems for nearby residents. The movement there grew into the Oxford Wind Action Group, a member of Wind Concerns Ontario -- both are lobby groups opposed to the development of industrial wind farms near residences.

"We are very dissatisfied with the approach this company has taken," Hickson resident Brian Middleton said. "Many people were completely unaware of their public information meeting. It was only advertised in the Ayr News.

"We're very concerned about that and wondering whether it's a result of the Gunn's Hill Road issues."

Middleton's own involvement came about as a result of the stray voltage and electrical pollution concerns, but he said the more he read into them, the more he also became concerned about the human health issues.

He said a public meeting to consider the proposal and a community reaction to it is tentatively scheduled for June 25 at 7:30 p. m., however a location for the meeting has not yet been confirmed.

Oxford County had been set to consider official plan policies related to wind energy developments, but tossed them aside with the introduction and subsequent passing of the Ontario Green Energy Act this spring. That move leaves a gap where there are no county policies in place until the Green Energy Act's regulations come into effect.

The act's regulations will stipulate minimum setback distances from residences and the mandatory public consultation process.