My wife & I own 10 acres…

My wife & I own 10 acres within the Greenbelt lands in Ancaster (Hamilton). We wish to share our comments on the Greenbelt designation process and proposed Bill 136.

To start, we want to remain objective in sharing our thoughts. We are not politically motivated, we are not against creating and protecting green space and desire full transparency in all processes.

* Research - In 2015 both the City of Hamilton and Dillion Consulting of Hamilton conducted research on our lands and concluded that they should not be included in the Greenbelt but be listed as “Whitebelt” to allow for future urban development. In 2016, the Liberal Government ignored the recommendation and moved forward with designating our lands as Greenbelt. We request the City of Hamilton and the Ontario Government acknowledge these reports and provide an explanation for why the recommendations were ignored.
* Public Input - Recently there was public outcry about the lack of input and transparency while removing Greenbelt lands (fair enough). Just as the general public was offended about the veiled process of removing Greenbelt lands, the public should be equally concerned about the rushed process of returning all lands into the Greenbelt. We have the opportunity to review both the land removal process and the returning process. Where land should be rightly considered for the Greenbelt, let it be so. Where lands are not a good fit for the Greenbelt, let it be so.
* Private vs Government Land - By far, the majority of the public believes all Greenbelt land is owned by the government. The Hamilton Greenbelt lands are 100% privately owned property. Due to this misconception by the public, they feel a sense of ownership and entitlement to these lands. We even had a conversation with someone who stated they want these lands for their grandchildren to enjoy and hike on. We mentioned to them that just as they wouldn’t respect us bringing our family to walk on their private property, we feel the same about them bringing their family on our private property. The person we spoke to quickly realized they are not properly informed about who owns the Hamilton Greenbelt, who its available to and what its purpose is. We don’t understand why the government has the freedom to put our private land into Greenbelt dramatically affecting its use and value.
* Farmland - While the non-farming public chanting “Farmers Feed Cities” nobly wishes to protect farmers and their land, the farmers themselves want to sell their land. They realize that farming on property under 200 acres is no longer profitable in today’s economy. Their children see what their farming parents endure and have no interest in farming as a career. People claim that with the loss of our farmland, there will be an increase in food shortage. Only one farmer on the Hamilton Greenbelt lands grows food for “pick your own” and they desire to sell their land for the greater need of housing. The rest of the farmers grow trees, flower and other plant materials. There is not a farm food shortage. Ontario gives more food away than it needs.
* Media - The media chooses to paint the landowners as a greedy group. They report there is a $8.3 billion advantage created by offering the Greenbelt lands for sale. This is an artificially high number because it considers taking the dramatically cut value of Greenbelt land and then uses the current fair market value of unprotected land to report the land value. More accurately, the media should consider presenting the pre-Greenbelt land value (much higher) in comparison to the current market value. As land owners, we are not greedy we simply want the same right to benefit from the investment made in our lands like any other citizen?

As land owners affected by Bill 136, we are asking for our lands to rightly be removed from Greenbelt status with full disclosure and transparency before the general public. This would reverse the error of including our lands in Greenbelt back in 2016.