Please, please don't remove…

Please, please don't remove the current protected status of the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve. This land is a treasure for the people of Durham and for any Ontarians who can visit the area and it should be protected in perpetuity.
During Covid, I noticed that all the available trails and nature spaces were overflowing with families desperate to get some fresh air and to see some nature. I have never before seen the Seaton Trail entrance in Whitevale near where I live overflowing with as many cars and people before.
The nature in the Agricutural Preserve possesses a long-term value to Ontarians that is almost incalculable. To casually permit it to be permanently destroyed by paving it over would be to swipe this priceless treasure away from countless generations of families in Ontario, and it is an affront to the democratic local decision-making and protections of conservation authorities. The Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve owes its existence to the efforts of the people of Durham over many years who fought to protect a little bit of nature amidst Toronto's mostly uniform sprawl. By comparison the City of Vaughan has become an unending sea of housing developments, big box malls and constant traffic, with only a few token postage stamps cornerparks spared by the developers for families to enjoy.

The Preserve is an absolute pearl that is worth more than has been properly evaluated by those eager to turn it over for short-term interests. It simply isn't necessary to destroy it, and other alternataives for housing haven't properly been considered.

Please protect the Greenbelt in its entirety.

A Durham Resident