ERO 019 6216 Comments on…

ERO 019 6216 Comments on Proposed Amendments to the Greenbelt Plan

General Observations:

I think the Proposed Amendments to the Greenbelt Plan is not good planning and sets an unnecessary precedent for possible future removals of land from the Ontario Greenbelt.

There’s absolutely no need to remove land from the Ontario Greenbelt. In the Municipal Plans of ALL GTA Municipalities, there is provision for growth to the mid 21st Century. Some Municipalities have gone so far as to include growth densification thereby obfuscating any need by the present Ontario Government to remove lands from the Ontario Greenbelt. An example of densification is the City of Pickering’s Policy 16 which includes high-rise and medium density building in and around the Pickering Town Centre and in the Seaton Development to the North.

Use of the offsetting method to attempt to remove 7 400 Acres of land from the Greenbelt to be “replaced” by 9400 Acres in the Paris Galt Moraine area north of Orillia is poor planning and damaging to the environment. The Ontario Government in the past and the current premier have stated that land would not be removed from the Greenbelt. Backtracking on stated policy to preserve the Ontario Greenbelt for future generations of citizens is both reckless and unfortunate. The Greenbelt’s purpose is to provide a natural environment surrounding the GTA conurbation, provide citizens with a potable drinking water source, and to protect a remnant of the most fertile land in Canada and Southern Ontario.

Proposing amendments to the Ontario Greenbelt is not going to solve the need for affordable housing and or for those wishing to move to their own housing units. Instead, the government should be encouraging Municipalities to densify housing in their growth areas without having to remove land from the Ontario Greenbelt.

The 15 areas proposed to be removed as shown in Maps 1 to 11 are unnecessary and are more suitably left as they currently planned. Current policy is not to remove lands from the Ontario Greenbelt. Some of the smaller planned removals, near stream valleys, would encroach on the water courses. Most egregious is the suggested removal of Greenbelt lands as shown on Map 6 – Durham Rouge Agricultural Preserve (DRAP) - and Map 7 – 765 and 775 Kingston Road East in Ajax.

The DRAP must not be removed from the Ontario Greenbelt because it is a source of food, potable water, and natural environment for eastern Metropolitan Toronto and the west side of Durham Regional Municipality. This means that the area has existing sustainability. The lands known as 765 and 775 Kingston Road East in Ajax must not be removed from the Ontario Greenbelt because they provide a natural corridor linking Lake Ontario to the Lake Iroquois Shoreline and Oak Ridges Moraine to the north. Removing these lands from the Ontario Greenbelt and developing them breaks the existing natural corridor linking Lake Ontario with the north.

Here’s what will happen if the Proposed Amendments to the Greenbelt Plan are enacted:

1) Remove 7 400 Acres from the Ontario Greenbelt sets a precedent for further removals in the future. Agricultural areas, potable water sources for Ontario citizens, and natural environments would be lost and or degraded.

2) Turning the DRAP and lands known as 765 and 775 on Kingston Road East in Ajax over for housing means that two major natural corridor connections, one from Rouge National Urban Park and to the Oak Ridges Moraine and the other from Lake Ontario to the Oak Ridges Moraine, will be lost.

3) If many of the smaller proposed land removals are approved from the Ontario Greenbelt, there is possible encroachment on adjacent stream valleys, e.g., Rouge River and Little Rouge Creek. In the case of the DRAP, there would be encroachment on the headwaters of both the Duffin’s and Carruthers Creeks.

4) Urbanization close to stream valleys and to headwaters of streams endangers fishes that
need cold stream waters for spawning and growth. Additionally, there is the grave potential of erosion and silting up of the water in which the fishes live.

5) The Ontario Government cannot be trusted to keep its word if these removals are enacted.
That means that original statements that the Ontario Greenbelt is sacrosanct has no justification.

Recommendations:

1) Leave the Ontario Greenbelt as is in all areas by not removing any lands from it. Removing lands, as per 019 6216, threatens many stream valleys, 2 natural corridors, and the DRAP.

2) By all means add lands to the Ontario Greenbelt such as the Paris Galt Moraine. The Ontario Government has been meaning to enact legislation to further enlarge the Ontario Greenbelt. Do it. Protection of these lands protects the potable water sources, remaining fertile lands near the GTA, and natural environments for flora, fauna, and Ontario citizens to enjoy.

3) Leave the DRAP alone. It prevents the GTA from becoming a total megalopo9lis, provides a
large remnant of the most fertile land in Canada and Southern Ontario, and provides other benefits as listed in 2) above.

4) If the Government of Ontario says it is going to enlarge the Ontario Greenbelt. Then do so. Enlarging the Ontario Greenbelt is one way of ameliorating the effects of the climate changes that are currently taking place in the province and to give some habitat to the flora and fauna  
that experiencing difficulties because of we humans.

5) Work within the boundaries of the present conurbations. The word is densify. Sprawl is both primitive and unrealistic.

6) Protect the Ontario Greenbelt and you maintain sustainability, diversity, potable water, fertile lands, and natural environments.

Conclusion:

Do not remove lands from the Ontario Greenbelt. This proves to be an expedient rather than
a benefit. There are already sufficient lands within the boundaries of ALL municipalities in the
GTA for housing units. Many of the current municipal plans call for densification growth. This
practice is good for the providing affordable housing units and good for natural environment.
Leave the Durham Rouge Agricultural Preserve alone. DRAP is there to prevent the GTA from
becoming a megalopolis, provides a buffer between the City of Pickering and Metropolitan
Toronto. Enlarging the Ontario Greenbelt to include the Paris Galt Moraine is a good idea. But
the addition of that Moraine should not be used to pursue the fallacious practice of “offsetting”
by replacing lands removed from the Ontario Greenbelt with other lands. The Ontario Government must keep its word. It has said it will expand the Ontario Greenbelt but has left the proposal on the shelf. The Ontario Government would do well by its citizens if it keeps its word and expands the Ontario Greenbelt. Removing lands from the Greenbelt is neither viable and does not make sense in view of climate change and growth which can already be accommodated in current municipal plans.

Thank you for the opportunity to make comments on this proposal.