As a Hamiltonian, I live at…

As a Hamiltonian, I live at the centre of the population growth in Ontario. As a Bruce Trail member, I value the green areas in this area and throughout Ontario. It is from these bases that I comment.

Hamilton has many beautiful areas of open space that are farmed, producing much of the food eaten in our area. I have already watched large corn and potato fields disappear under pavement and housing. In the Red Hill Valley we have already seen that paving natural areas leads to lack of stormwater control.

To spread more people over the area that would feed them is self-defeating. This will lead to having to truck food into our area, causing traffic jams and air pollution. We have worked hard to clean the air around Hamilton and don't wish a reversal of this process. Maintain the standards of the Climate Change Strategy 2015 and Climate Change Action Plan 2016. Don't bust what isn't broken.

As I drive around in Hamilton I see many areas that are still undeveloped where housing and businesses could be added without requiring extension of infrastructure. Greenfield areas still exist on the rim of our city, where minimal extension of infrastructure could serve them. I urge that the capacity %age in these areas be increased by at least 20% each. Infill in these areas would contribute to use of public transit and would foster whole communities within the city.

I am opposed to the development of white belt areas, as these are still the "lungs" of our area. The more you pave, the less you have vegetation to provide good air quality.

For both greenfield and whitefield areas I am opposed to local control of urban spread and would want a provincial government agency with the guts to stop "developers" as I fear local governments are more easily influenced by developers and by a need to enhance their municipal tax bases. I oppose the farm-by-farm creep of "development" into these areas. The Local Planning Appeal Tribunal is the wrong way to go. The Land Needs Assessment Methodology for GGH 2017 has the teeth we need in Ontario.

Of course, I am adamantly opposed to any incursion into the Greenbelt, wisely put in place by a Liberal government with a long-range view to the future. Any dilution of this control and I will be at your doorstep at Queen's Park.