Submission for Proposed…

Submission for Proposed Amendments to the Greenbelt Plan ERO number 019-6216

The Greenbelt was established in 2005 to protect farmlands, wetlands, and other significant natural areas in Ontario.

It is understood that more housing needs to be built in Ontario, but not on Greenbelt land. The Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force stated that there is sufficient land within existing built-up areas in municipalities in which to house people now and in the future, in a process called densification.

The goal is to leave the Greenbelt for the following uses:

• Farmland: Once paved over, the land can never be used for agricultural purposes again. Farmland is one of the precious resources in this province. If Ontario wants to be as self-sufficient in food production as possible, do not build homes on the prime agricultural land.

• Wetlands: Another precious resource that acts as a buffer against extreme weather conditions due to climate change—as a reservoir for sudden extreme downpours, as a filter for water; as a carbon sink, and home to biodiversity in this province.

• Watersheds: Water does not follow human-drawn boundaries. Water will go where it needs to go. Human manipulation of water is self-defeating. Input from the Conservation Authorities is imperative so that the proposed homes are not built on flood plains.

• Corridors: Wildlife needs corridors to safely pass from area to area. Putting breaks in the corridors will interrupt the passageways for the wildlife, potentially disrupting their breeding and wintering cycles. A sure way to encourage extinction.

• Tourism: Where people go to relax and play.

Two other notes:

• The corridors will not only be broken by building homes on land not previously designated for homes, but the required infrastructure will damage the corridors even more.

• Wetlands and other natural areas are not ecosystems that can be easily moved or rebuilt in a process called offsetting. Offsetting should be the last resort. This is not a situation requiring the method of last resort. Developing a wetland is not as easy as digging a hole, filling it with water and putting a frog in it. A wetland takes a long time, even decades or more to establish.

My belief is that the only reason for the proposal to remove parcels from the Greenbelt for building a mere 50,000 homes, the most inefficient and unaffordable process for housing people in Ontario, is to reward the developers who speculated on the protected land in the Greenbelt, something the developers should NEVER have done. Maybe, they should go for a pleasant walk on the land. Who knows what they might discover.