The provincial Government…

The provincial Government needs to encourage the construction of
more affordable homes and rental units in the province;
however
It is vital for our future that it does so in an environmentally sustainable way
not only in terms of construction methods but very importantly in terms of where
these units are built.. More urban sprawl is not necessary.

By allowing the sprawl of the GTA and GGH in the 15 areas currently under
consideration, it would appear there is a fundamental lack of understanding
by the government about the role of the Greenbelt.

The Greenbelt serves as a carbon sink for the urban areas around Lake Ontario.
It helps to mitigate the poor air quality generated by these already large urban areas.
It helps to provide clean water as well as control run-off and flooding.
It offers a cooling effect to the increasingly high temperatures brought on my climate
change.
It provides habitat for a wide variety of plant, animal and insect species all of which
are essential to preserving a healthy productive environment upon which we people
rely.

The plan suggests adding one large chunk of approx. 9400 acres to the northwest in Wellington
County to make up for the loss of the 15 areas. There are at least two problems with this.

1. The Greenbelt cannot effectively deal with the environmental problems of an urban area
that keeps increasing in size. Moving the greenbelt further out while allowing more urban
development does solve these problems, It only worsens them.

2. Replacing 15 areas of a diverse nature with one unit of largely uniform terrain is not
an effective trade-off. This area will not replace the loss of wetlands, and varied habitats
In the 15 areas designated for destruction.

The plan might be better framed if it used the on-the-ground knowledge and expertise of
municipalities around and within the greenbelt.