I am submitting my comments…

I am submitting my comments below against your Proposed Amendments to the Green Belt Plan.
1) The Greenbelt was established to ensure on-going protection. Its main purpose is to protect the existing land and curb urban sprawl.
2) Land swaps were never envisioned, as this would defeat the purpose of creating a Greenbelt in the first place.
3) The Hamilton parcels proposed for removal contain prime farmland & significant natural features that must be protected to ensure food security, climate resilience, protection of biodiversity, wetlands & waterways.
4) The city of Hamilton already developed a viable plan to accommodate urban growth to 2051 within the existing urban area. Therefore no amendment to the Greenbelt area is required.
5) The financial implications of such significant outward expansion in Hamilton would be huge and the burden of these additional costs will be borne, in large part, by existing municipal taxpayers and not the developers. This means the Ontario government would actually indirectly subsidize housing built in these areas with taxpayers' money from local municipalities.
6) A sensible approach would be to FIRST exhaust all avenues of building additional housing within current urban areas. Most municipalities affected by this proposal argue that in their planning now expansion into the Green belt is required all the way up to 2051.
7) I am against the removal of any of the 11 parcels of the Green Belt that are currently being proposed for removal.