I am a land-owner in the…

I am a land-owner in the Book Road West block, recently removed from the Greenbelt. In 2005, approximately 800 acres in the Book Road area were included in the original Greenbelt plan. In 2017 a further 1,000 acres in the Book Road area were added to the Greenbelt plan, with no clear reason as to why. Today, there is approximately 1,791 acres included in the Greenbelt in the Book Road area. Of this land, 309 acres are Natural Heritage land, while 1,482 acres are non-NHS. None of the land added to the Greenbelt in 2017 are NHS.

Because it is important to the transparency of the process, here is a brief timeline of the Greenbelt review in the City of Hamilton which led to the 405 acres being added to the plan in 2017.

In June 2015 the City hired Dillon Consulting to assist with several open houses, the purpose of which was to get feedback on potential changes to the Greenbelt plan prior to submitting comments to the province.

Based on the report, one of the recommendations was for the City Staff to consult with the Province, the public and the development community on options for any changes to the Greenbelt boundaries.
In December 2015, public events were held to solicit input on changes to the Greenbelt Plan – five options were identified, none of which included the addition of the Book Road lands. As a result of this report, it was suggested to the Province by the City of Hamilton that any changes on the Greenbelt be deferred to allow the city to complete a full and comprehensive assessment of land needs including which lands, if any, should be added to the Greenbelt.

June/December 2015 City of Council reviewed the provincial proposal on Greenbelt lands, and made some suggestions, none of which included adding the Book Roads lands to the Greenbelt.

September 2016 – The province re-released its Greenbelt Plan which including adding 405 hectares of Book Road Lands to the Greenbelt Plan. This proposal was supported by Council at the September 14th 2016 Council Meeting, despite them stating in December 2015 that they would like to do a complete review of the Greenbelt Plan for Hamilton.

The Book Road lands became part of the Greenbelt, not through a process of review, or public consultation, but as a result of, what appears to be, politically motivated decisions. With these lands being back into Greenbelt, and up for review in 2026, I would expect that each parcel of land included in the Greenbelt would have a fair, transparent examination, based on a set of clear guidelines/criteria of what land should be in Greenbelt and what land should not, so that these types of back door deals aren’t able to happen in the future.

While I appreciate the conservative government made missteps in their process, the city of Hamilton also made missteps when they allowed this land to be included in 2017. We have reached out to our city representatives, to request to have an integrity commissioner look into how this happened in the first place but have not received a response. This is why it is CRITICAL we have criteria that is transparent and is applied to a property by property basis.

I appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts, as the actual history of this situation, tends to be overlooked. I trust that you will take this into consideration while planning in a clear, transparent manner, for the future of this land.