Antigonish County council approved a plan to build 22 wind turbines on rural mountain land between Connors Mountain Road, Maple Ridge Road, and MacQuarrie Road, opening a 14-day window for residents to appeal the decision. The June 1 vote changed municipal land-use rules, rezoning 24 small pieces of 18 private properties to permit the project by Eigg Mountain Wind Inc.
People who feel affected by the decision can challenge it at the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board within 14 days of June 3, 2026, according to a public notice from the county. The appeal clock started the day the notice was posted.
The wind farm is expected to produce about 154 megawatts of clean electricity, enough for roughly 49,280 homes, and cut Nova Scotia’s yearly greenhouse gas emissions by about 271,000 tonnes. Construction would begin late this year, employ 200 to 250 workers, and finish by 2028. Once running, the site would need only four to 12 staff and pay about $1.3 million each year in taxes to the county.
The project, which already has provincial environmental approval from April 9, 2026, must meet 57 terms designed to protect the environment and human health. Those conditions were set by the province after the project was accepted under Nova Scotia’s Green Choice Program, the biggest single addition of clean power in the province’s history. Eigg Mountain Wind Inc., part of global developer Renewable Energy Systems Canada, is working with Paq’tnkek and Pictou Landing First Nations on the plan.
The 22 turbines, each 199.5 metres to the tip of the blade, would sit next to the Eigg Mountain/James River Wilderness Area. Building them would require about 31.8 kilometres of gravel roads, including nearly 13 kilometres of new road. That has drawn sharp criticism from the Moose Conservation Association of Nova Scotia, which says the area holds one of the largest groups of mainland moose left in the province. A community petition against the project has gathered more than 300 signatures, led by resident Jeremy Landry, who worries about the loss of local ecological health and the changing character of the area.
