I am a student at Central…

I am a student at Central Peel Secondary School, I was reading about the amendments surrounding the Growth Plans of the Greater Golden Horseshoe and amendment 2.2.8.5 caught my eye. The specific amendment exposes the environment to harm, parts of the amendment allow expansion of a settlement area boundary in advance of a municipal comprehensive review.
The amendment would jeopardize the environment and affect our communities in a negative manner. The amendment would allow a suburban expansion which could cause a great deal of damage to the surrounding ecosystem. The amendment would directly harm the environment and would harm the Greenbelt causing direct damage to several communities including mine.

The amendment could have a great negative impact on our environment and our communities. Expansion of a boundary would give more area for houses to be built, which will cause damage to the surrounding area. Since there would be more opportunity for the housing business the pollution levels would rise because the average person produces 20.3 tonnes of pollution each year and the expansion would attract more people to the area making that number rise. Also, there is a very obvious loophole to the amendment. If the settlement is expanded 40 hectares it can be expanded again because there is no restriction to how many times the boundary can be expanded, this would cause extremely severe consequences. Also, for the expanded community to be sustainable businesses must be established in the area. This is why the amendment could be fatal to the environment.

The Greenbelt would be greatly affected because of this amendment. The Greenbelt would be jeopardized because of the rise in pollution. If the Greenbelt gets damaged it will have a severe impact on our community and our food supply. The Greenbelt provides food to more than 10 million people and any damage to it would prove to be devastating. Most of the food in my community comes from the Greenbelt and any damage would prove to be devastating. The Greenbelt is the lifeline for communities around it and damaging it by this amendment would be foolish. These are the reasons why amendment 2.2.8.5 would cause severe damage to the Greenbelt.

Amendment 2.2.8.5 can severely damage the environment especially the Greenbelt which would directly affect the community. These are the reasons why amendment 2.2.8.5 would cause a great deal of damage to our community. Ultimately, I ask that amendment 2.2.8.5 should be withdrawn from the Growth Plans of the Greater Golden Horseshoe.