Please reconsider your…

Please reconsider your proposed changes to the current growth plan.
Taking up precious and necessary greenfields is taking us many steps backwards.

Green fields and green spaces are vital to our existence. Not solely for wildlife and their habitat which gets displaced every time we develop their living environment causing a cascade of under or over population of certain species, disrupting the ecological balance, but also because these green spaces act as carbon sinks for our ever growing greenhouse gas emissions, one of the main contributors of climate change.

With that said, one component of the proposed changes indicates that the new draft will remove all growth plan references to climate change. In a time when extreme weather events have become the norm, when temperatures are erratic and there is definitive scientific proof that climate change is a very real problem, it is important to keep climate change at the forefront of any new development initiative.

Rather than taking up green space why not use brown fields for employment lands? While I understand that remediation can be costly, the long term cost reward value will supersede any expense to remediate. And it will preserve the green spaces we have, thereby helping to maintain a healthy environment.

In this draft proposal I understand that there are no tools to create more new affordable housing. In a time when the homelessness numbers have skyrocketed and the number of prolle who cannot secure affordable housing is at its all time high, its imperative that affordable housing be part of any proposed development plans.

Thank you for your time.