As a resident of St…

As a resident of St Catharines, I wholeheartedly oppose the proposed changes to the Greenbelt for several reasons:
1. The number of units proposed for development is much too low to have any meaningful impact on the current affordability crisis.
2. It will result in a substantial increase in property taxes to myself and other homeowners in the Niagara Region to cover the infrastructure costs it offloads onto municipalities.
3. It deprives the province of farmland that will only become more urgently needed as population our increases.
4. It increases the risks of flooding, as it removes important natural protections such as wetlands.
5. The type of low-density suburban development proposed for the area worsens traffic problems.
6. It deprives residents of natural spaces.
7. In the absence of strong energy-efficiency building standards that includes low-carbon heating such as heat pumps, the development of low-density detached homes will contribute to the on-going climate crisis.