I am deeply concerned and…

I am deeply concerned and against the governments decision to move forward with allowing open spaces and agriculture land and private conservation authority lands to be used for construction and building of new residences.

There are sufficient vacant lands (grey and brown fields) and alternate lands that could be used to increase the construction of new housing to meet current and future demands. This needs to be investigated further and explored in greater detail.

COVID19 has proven that a key part of human mental health is the ability to seek out and utilize outdoor green spaces and these areas have been utilized to an extent not seen in many years. People no longer have the ability to go to a river and walk along it at their leisure. Someone else owns this land and typically has no trespassing signs on it.

We need to protect our green areas for future generations and to continue to protect them to increase and improve access to clean air and water. These two components are what human beings and indeed all living creatures rely on, without this we cannot survive.

Already, we currently live in an area where access to clean, drinkable water is scarce and have to have it trucked in. What if those areas where the water is coming from to support housing is contaminated and no longer available? Then our housing and those you are proposing to add to these areas - also won't be self sustaining.

Ontario and indeed Canada has one of the largest portions of the worlds clean drinking water. We are already shipping out bottled water at astounding rates. This product didn't exist over 30 years ago. Water shortages continue to plague the world.

Europe has put restrictions in place to protect their green space (areas of outstanding natural beauty) that are left. We need to continue to protect the greenbelt and not reduce that green land that protects our ground water, our wildlife, our trees that produce oxygen and reduce climate change.

Are there other ways to reduce the impact of humans on our environment? Build up instead of out. Reduce warehousing sprawl, ask them to build up and also ensure that their roofs are supporting solar energy roofing and water retention technology. Then we don't have to use valuable farm land to create solar farms.

Let's be the environmental standard that others can strive for instead of polluting what is left of our land by building that is irreversible once completed. We currently live in an agricultural area and our house should never have been built, but we weren't aware of that when we purchased it. Stop the sprawl, let's grow our own food as much as possible, let wildlife continue to flourish and increase our ability to fight climate change and support and set an example for other countries to do the same.