Hello, The following are my…

Hello, The following are my comments on the proposal to revoke the Central Pickering Development Plan. I don't believe this action is necessary, or warranted, as the Central Pickering development plan is, I am sure, fully capable of knowing how to develop its surrounding area better than a government that does not live in the area, and seems to prioritize inefficient and outdated building practices. We should absolutely be encouraging, and legislating that future developments have greater densities than what we have been building, better walkability, bikeability and less car-dependency, and better green building standards. We should be building complete communities that include excellent green and park space, ample wildlife habitat, and plenty of farmland. The current provincial government has proven beyond a doubt that they are unwilling to enact these kinds of changes, and therefore are absolutely not in a better position to tell the Pickering area how it should be growing and planning for future populations. In fact the provincial government's position is counter to that of modern, progressive building and land use planning policies; lowering density requirements, removing green building standards, and removing environmental protections to get things built. Perhaps the government has forgotten that we must be doing everything possible to lower our carbon output, decrease emissions and build better than what we have been doing. As well, potential removal of the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve from protected land would be an absolute travesty. I farm in York region and have seen what suburban sprawl has done to the area, particularly Vaughan and Richmond Hill. We have an extremely limited amount of farmland left in those cities which will severely impact resident's ability to buy food locally. As in Duffin's Rouge, this is excellent farmland that cannot be replaced once it is lost. Our society is built upon agriculture. According to the OFA, we are losing our farmland in Ontario at a rate of 319 acres per day, this is almost 1% of Ontario's farmland per year. I am not sure why that is acceptable, as we are losing valuable food and economic sources. Why shouldn't our descendants have access to the same farmland? We need stronger protection around farmland, not weaker. Even more aggravating is seeing this land consumed with poor land use planning policies. We have the ability to build denser, nicer communities that are also less impactful on the climate, and we should be choosing that route, which I do not believe will be the case if the Central Pickering Development plan is revoked.
Thank You