I am a farmer raising cattle…

I am a farmer raising cattle in Rockwood. I have already commented concerning the changes proposed in Bill 23 to the committee. Again, the red tape reduction mantra of the Ontario government is just going to lead us down the path of mass destruction of the environment and the loss of farmland. Do not change the ability of the public to appeal (I think this has been changed). Do not reduce the involvement of the conservation authorities in development plan evaluation. I think the CAs are already too soft on developers already. This change would just enhance the problem of protecting farmland, water and wetlands.

Changes are proposed to remove planning approvals responsibilities from certain upper-tier municipalities (regions of Durham, Halton, Niagara, Peel, Simcoe, Waterloo, York) would destroy the progress that has been made by these entities to use their planning polices to identify good city boundaries to prevent urban sprawl.

Why would the government not take on its responsibility to approve official plans and amendments ? I guess the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing should be fired if this is enacted!

We have an Aggregate Resources Act. Why is any change being contemplated here? No way should there be a removal of the “2-year timeout” period for applications to amend new official plans, secondary plans and zoning by-laws in respect of mineral aggregate operations. Keep a
2-year period where changes to new official plans, secondary plans and new comprehensive zoning by-laws are not permitted, unless these changes are municipally-supported. We have enough aggregate extracted already (50 years worth) and many idle pits because of the lack of demand for aggregate.