It was a wonderful…

It was a wonderful environmental and fiscal win for the City of Hamilton to submit an official plan to preserve approximately 3,000 acres of farmland till 2051.
The official plan complies with provincial land use policy and will serve our children and grandchildren.

We know that suburban sprawl costs taxpayers more in the future. Our city already has a vast footprint. We can meet the requirements for a mix of housing types by increasing high density along transit lines and through zoning, ensure that duplexes, SDU's and other ground related homes are built to increase densities in all neighbourhoods throughout Hamilton.
How? When new Hamiltonians buy up homes in our area, they often convert an existing bungalow to a larger housing form. Why not encourage duplexes? This will also create densities to support better transit. We can do this. Many new residents cannot afford the 1.4 million dollar price tag of a new home, but can afford a duplex. Hamilton has already passed zoning for SDU's and we encourage growth in all our neighbourhoods.

We need farmland to help with flood mitigation, building on farmland will be expensive for basement flooding in our existing neighbourhoods.

Of course, we have seen that wars in Europe and droughts in California have meant that the cost of food has increased. The cost of transporting food is particularly expensive. We need to protect our Class 1 soils right here in Hamilton. All of Ontario can benefit from protecting this non-renewable resource. Our large agricultural sector relies on land being preserved to thrive in the 30 years to come. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture and the National Farmers Union both delegated to stop urban boundary expansion.
Hamiltonians really understand this issue and thousands were engaged in this Stop Sprawl campaign. Please honor the wishes of your constituents here in #HamOnt and pass the Official Plan, your grandchildren will thank you.