Fwd: anti Marchurst BESS seeking a Judicial Review
Art Hunter
From: Judy Makin <judyma...@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 00:30
Subject: anti Marchurst BESS seeking a Judicial Review
To: Angela Keller-Herzog <akelle...@cafesottawa.ca>
Cc: Art Hunter <art....@gmail.com>, Don Sproule <donald....@gmail.com>, Barry Ashworth <bar...@quantimatics.com>, Nc Tr <nickyt...@gmail.com>, Mike Fletcher <flet...@gmail.com>, Ken Love <lov...@sympatico.ca>, Louise Green <louisef...@gmail.com>, Raymond Leury <Raymon...@outlook.com>, Matthew Jones <mtajon...@gmail.com>, Rudi Aksim <rudi....@gmail.com>
Anti-South March BESS group taking issue to court
Special to WC Online
WEST CARLETON – A community not-for-profit corporation commenced a judicial review in Ontario’s Divisional Court seeking review of Ottawa city council’s Dec. 10, 2025 decision to approve a site-specific zoning bylaw amendment from Rural Countryside to a new Rural General Industrial Exception Zone, permitting an industrial-scale 250 megawatt Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), one of the largest proposed battery storage facilities planned for Canada.
The newly organized West Carleton Community Alliance (WCCA) represents many residents in West Carleton-March “who rely on private groundwater wells as their sole source of potable water; the proper identification and protection of species-at-risk habitat; and effective fire and emergency risk management to protect their health, safety, enjoyment and lawful use of their properties, including agricultural and livestock uses,” the WCCA released in a statement today (Jan. 13). “Residents living in the vicinity of the lands subject to zoning amendment are directly affected by the zoning approval for the proposed facility, referred to as both the Marchurst BESS and its Brookfield/Evolugen marketed name, the South March BESS.”
In May of 2025, a petition carrying 1,421 hand-to-pen signatures was filed with the city against this BESS project. On Dec. 1, 2025, the Agriculture and Rural Affairs committee (ARAc) considered the zoning bylaw amendment application for the South March BESS. After hours of delegations from residents and stakeholders opposed to the project, as well as those in favour of the project, ARAc councillors defeated the city Planning Department’s recommendation to approve the zoning bylaw amendment.
Despite ARAc’s vote to reject the motion, city council approved the zoning bylaw amendment on Dec. 10, 2025, by a vote of 21-4.
“When decisions of this magnitude are made despite substantial community participation and a refusal recommendation at committee, it raises questions best addressed through lawful review,” WCCA said.
Judicial review is the mechanism by which Ontario courts determine whether government decision-making complies with required legal standards.
“While residents participated through public delegations at committee, the subsequent reversal of the committee’s recommendation highlights the limits of such participation in shaping decisions affecting essential public services and safety,” the WCCA said. “Private groundwater wells in Ward 5 support drinking water, livestock, and agricultural uses, making groundwater a non-substitutable rural resource that must be considered in evidence-based land-use planning. The siting of new industrial uses, such as a 22-acre lithium battery facility on farmland, in groundwater-dependent communities raises important questions that must be addressed through transparent municipal planning. Rural transportation networks rely on limited roads without the redundancy of urban street grids. Rural communities rely on private well systems and decentralized emergency response, making planning decisions especially consequential for public safety and infrastructure compatibility.”
The WCCA feels judicial review is one of their last resorts in fighting the South March BESS project.
“Judicial review is an extraordinary remedy and is being pursued only after residents exhausted ordinary avenues for participation in the planning process and with no adequate alternative remedy available to ensure oversight,” the WCCA said. “Land-use decisions affecting essential public safety infrastructure must be supported by a record demonstrating the municipality turned its mind to relevant safety considerations, and residents view judicial review as the only remaining mechanism to confirm whether applicable legal standards were met.”
“This community exhausted all ordinary channels to raise concerns and was left without a meaningful venue to be heard and understood,” WCCA chair Leigh Fenton said. “Judicial oversight exists for exactly this reason – to ensure important decisions affecting people and land are made in accordance with the law. The court’s role is to assess the legality of the decision-making process, and we welcome that oversight.”
The action is funded by residents and volunteers and reflects a sustained, community-led effort to ensure accountability in land-use decision-making, the WCCA said.
The respondents are the City of Ottawa, Stantec Consultants, Brookfield Renewable Power Inc, and Evolugen Development Limited Partnership, each named in connection with the approval and proposed development of the South March BESS project. The proceeding now moves into the evidentiary phase. Legal counsel, Colautti Landry Partners, has been retained by the WCCA. Much of the evidentiary record has already been assembled through a full year of community work, and counsel is now organizing the materials required for filing with the court.
“When planning decisions affect groundwater, wetlands, farmland, and the fabric of rural communities, residents have a legitimate expectation of meaningful participation and transparent review, particularly where those heritage features cannot ever be recreated once altered,” Fenton said.
West Carleton Online has covered the South March BESS project since Day 1 and you can find that coverage here.