Slightly Edited/Final …

Slightly Edited/Final Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society Submission regarding our Request for Expansion of Greenbelt in Niagara to include previously recognized Grape Lands in between Niagara Falls and Thorold.

It has been a long standing position of the Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society (PALS), that based on its excellent soil and climate for grape growing, the agriculturally zoned and designated lands of Thorold and Niagara Falls north of the Welland River should be included within the Greenbelt. Our position is based on the research of the eminent Geographer, Dr. Ralph Krueger, whose testimony was accepted in the lengthy 1978-1980 hearings on the Niagara Regional Official Plan, adjudicated by the Ontario Municipal Board, and approved by the Provincial Government, that wind patterns in this area created an excellent micro-climate for grape growing. In the past four years this determination and confirmation that this is good grape land lying outside the Greenbelt has been demonstrated by the establishment here of the Lundy Manor Wine Cellars which cultivates 60 acres of Riesling and hybrid grapes. It is to be hoped that the mapping error which kept lands in Thorold and Niagara Falls out of the Greenbelt will now be corrected.