I strongly oppose the…

I strongly oppose the proposed Official Plan Amendment 5 which would give the County of Simcoe the power to establish new waste management sites without notice to the public, consultation of the public, and eliminating the requirement for a specific official plan amendment.

This is to be achieved by a redefinition of solid waste management, hiving off “non-landfilling” activities as suitable for being decided administratively without public involvement. The County of Simcoe calls this a “systems approach,” which is meaningless jargon. This is an anti-democratic approach aimed at reducing awareness of what the County is planning and actually doing.

All waste sites - landfilling and non-landfilling - have the potential to cause significant adverse impacts on public health and the environment, including noise, dust, odour, truck traffic, vermin, and litter. There is a serious potential for fire - fuelled by waste from a variety of sources, some of which may involve dangerous chemicals - and leachate, since anyy containment system can fail.

Presently, residents have the right to appeal any proposal to establish a waste site to the Local Planning and Appeal Tribunal. With OPA5, the County of Simcoe is excluding residents from knowledge and participation in decisions on a major element of its waste management infrastructure,

This must not be allowed to proceed.