The Greenbelt is a protected…

The Greenbelt is a protected area, and has been for years, opening it up for development is an incredibly slippery slope that can have harmful effects for our environment and quality of life. These amendments basically say that by adding additional land to the greenbelt that will somehow make up for removing other lands and opening them up for development, but this doesn't make sense. The Greenbelt is full of interconnected ecosystems and taking land from this protected space will still have a major impact that cannot just be offset by adding additional land elsewhere.

This is not a numbers game. Maintaining a specific number of acres for the Greenbelt is not the only criteria that needs to be met. As mentioned in the article linked below, developing on land from the Greenbelt could negatively impact our wildlife, agriculture, and drinking water. These are critical for sustaining life and quality of life. In a time when climate change and the environment need to be at the forefront of our minds, we cannot be making irresponsible decisions like these.

Also, how is this going to help the issue of the rising cost of housing and living? There are constantly new homes and condominiums being constructed, and yet the prices have not decreased at all. Affordability is the problem that needs to be addressed, not more solutions that just line the pockets of developers.

The Greenbelt is protected for a reason, it needs to stay that way.