I am writing to state my…

I am writing to state my objection to the proposal to remove 7,400 acres of land from the Greenbelt, as proposed on November 04.

The Greenbelt was long in coming but when established was done for posterity. Removing lands is not acceptable and will increase risks to human health and property. Greenspace is essential to reduce the risk of flooding, improve air urban air quality and reduce the urban heat island effect. It is especially important to maintain lands next to the urban growth boundary under protection. "Swapping out" the plots of land targeted for development destroys the permanence and certainty required for any part of the Greenbelt to function properly.

While land will be added to the Greenbelt, much of the land that has been identified is already protected and therefore does not add green space to the region nor provide any additional protection from extreme weather events and poses an increased threat to farmland that is essential to food security.

By permanently setting aside land for farming and natural heritage, the Greenbelt protects land from the intense speculation and development pressure in Southern Ontario. Without this permanent protection, agricultural land would quickly become completely unaffordable to farmers. Even raising the possibility of removing any land from the Greenbelt will create a speculative rush and intense development pressure on all the lands currently within the Greenbelt.

Currently, there is a vast supply of unused greenfield land already open for development within existing municipal boundaries (350 square kilometres as of 2019) and the current round of Official Plans awaiting approval will add 42,000 additional hectares of non-Greenbelt land to that vast stockpile.

This proposal bad for the health of our province and unlikely to produce any additional housing.