The greenbelt was created to…

The greenbelt was created to protect the fertile lands where our food grows, where our water sources are filtered on their way to Lake Ontario, where wildlife is still able to flourish, where forests clean the air, where humans can renew their energies before tackling the rat race that is now endemic in metropolitan centres that form the Golden Horseshoe!

The architects responsible for this protected space had the foresight to want to prevent the rampant sprawl proposed by the current government. There are many alternative spaces that can be quickly converted into useable housing - empty schools, government buildings, warehouses …. Give us co-op housing, dedicated affordable rentals - allow rooming house again ( how many of us began our lives in the city). When growth must happen creative thinking can be invaluable!. Building out all the sites currently approved and serviced would eliminate the need for this haste and thoughtless expansion! This can improve life for many desperate for affordable places to live!
Those in power should consider talking to planners and professionals who do this for a living, not ignore those with some knowledge. The developers have one wish - build and make a lot of money! The fact that many large tracts were acquired when Mr Ford made his wishes known make a great many folk suspicious as to the true intentions of this land appropriation.
The other area of major concern is #413 highway. It’s going to carve through productive farmland and runs parallel to that under-utilized highway to the south, #407. We’re filling the land beside any of the 400 series highways with gigantic warehouses, guaranteeing massive truck congestion and more highways needed. This paving over our land, helter-skelter, is appalling in this time of climate change, global warming and the need to cut down our use of fossil fuels.
There are any number of other issues presented in this omnibus Bill 23 that are frightening, healthcare, education and public service come to mind…
We’re being hit with a fire hose… no wonder folks are upset!
Our Greenbelt and Conservation areas are good things, created with consideration .They are worthwhile and will protect us all, way into the future.
Please do not destroy!!!
Thankyou