Councillor Kelly Questions Marchurst BESS Applicant at Thursday's ARAC Meeting
- Clarke Kelly
- Jun 6
- 2 min read
Councillor Kelly's statement following the June 5, 2025 meeting of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee:
Yesterday was a very big day for Ward 5 at the Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee. The meeting spanned almost 10 hours and we had over 70 delegates on multiple issues, including two really important files for West Carleton-March.
First, ARAC denied an application to close and sell a road allowance in Woodlawn. This was in direct response to the concerns raised by many members of the community about the ramifications this could have. I don’t believe the bar was met to sell that public asset. This was a a 4-0 decision by the committee.
Next, was a very long discussion on the Marchurst BESS application, which inexplicably was sent to yesterday’s ARAC meeting with a walk on motion at the previous Council meeting. It was disappointing to see the process promised to our residents was sidestepped, but we were ready for the conversation despite this move with a great showing of delegates from Ward 5. Some were in favour of the project, but many were not.
In the end, after hearing from the community, the committee voted against providing a Municipal Support Resolution for this project 4-0. It will now rise to Council next Wednesday where a final debate and vote will take place.
You can listen to my questions for the applicant, followed by my closing remarks from yesterday’s committee meeting at the video below.
If you have a question about this or any other Ward or City issue, just send an email to Clarke.Kelly@Ottawa.ca or call our office at 613-580-2475.
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