Durham Region of Ontario has…

Durham Region of Ontario has already given up a significant amount of rural land to urban expansion. It has already allowed too much urban expansion with little effort to increase density on land already taken out of farming and from the Greenbelt. There can be no justification for taking more out, when actual evidence shows little effort to contain sprawl or increase density is visible. It cannot be allowed to continue. The government must be able to demonstrate first, that increased density will happen on land already set aside, including plans for active transportation. There are so many possibilities available to address the housing problem, that taking more land out of produce production or from wildlife habitat is just wrong. The value of this land must be calculated in the context of sustaining farmland and wildlife habitat for many future generations. There is little evidence that official government planning at the municipal and provincial levels are forward thinking stewards of conservation management. This must be incorporated into any legislation that will replace or supplement Bill 23.