I am writing to you on…

I am writing to you on behalf of the Muslim Association of Milton.

We are extremely concerned about the proposed amendment to the Region of Halton Official Plan and the negative impacts of this change to the ability to establish a place of worship within the Region of Halton. Our concern relates to a new wording of Section 82.3(1) of the Regional Official Plan which severely limits sensitive land uses including institutional uses such as a place of worship within employment areas. We have reviewed the Provincial Policy Statement 2020 and Places to Grow Plan and there is no language within those provincial policy documents that supports this new punitive policy direction proposed within ROPA 49.

We have been working with the Town of Milton to secure a new location for a mosque to service our community. We are seeing major opposition from the Region of Halton based on this new policy direction. Providing a balanced policy framework that supports our religious communities is an important role of planning. We need planning to facilitate and provide opportunities for us to service our community. We are asking that this new policy direction set out in Section 82.3(1) not be approved.

The current approved planning framework which requires the local municipalities to undertake a place of worship study to determine the appropriate locations within employment areas works. We see no reason or benefit in changing the policy. We look forward to the opportunity to discuss these concerns further with you.
Yours truly,
Mussel Uddin Muzammil