As a landowner in the Town…

As a landowner in the Town of Innisfil farming a property purchased by my great grandfather in 1913, I have been witness over the years to the degradation of Cooks Bay which used to be our source of drinking water and the mining of agricultural lands as farms get transferred into the ownership of numbered companies. The municipality has allowed rural residential development to cover the Town...a form of development that costs more to service per tax dollar received than any other type of development. Costs of providing community services and the fiscal drain on the municipality has placed a huge tax burden on residents. Will the extension of the Greenbelt help this? It might...we can only hope.

The extension of the Greenbelt isn't just about protecting our water... it is about protecting Natural Heritage Systems, Class 1-4 agricultural land and protecting groundwater and the waters of Cooks Bay. The Greenbelt is an additional layer of land use planning that hopefully protects the public interest...our water, our ecosystem services, our foodlands!

Please ensure that ALL of the Town of Innisfil is included in the Greenbelt expanded area....it should have been included in 2005 to prevent the type of leap-frogging that has plagued Simcoe County. As a minimum, extend the Gilford Greenbelt Boundary northward up the Cooks Bay shoreline well past DeGrassi Point so that protected area has an additional layer of protection..... but ideally include the entire Town of Innisfil within the Greenbelt expansion area!!.

[Original Comment ID: 212797]