I strongly support Amendment…

I strongly support Amendment 6 of the official plan for Waterloo Region currently under consideration by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. I am heartened by the plan’s vision and commitment to a variety of important issues that impact all citizen’s of the region. This particular amendment will:
• Support the production and sale of locally produced food that my family regularly seeks out from producers we know and trust
• Create more affordable housing by promoting the environmentally sustainable practice of increasing density within existing municipal boundaries and preventing further, unnecessary incursion into productive agricultural land
• Reduce traffic emissions, the biggest source of greenhouse gases in Waterloo Region
I am also keenly aware of the power of Bill 23 to overturn local decision making. It appears to me that the provincial government may be intending to overturn this plan and amendment which have been carefully prepared by representatives of this Region over many years, and has included extensive consultation with a wide variety of local stakeholders to arrive at a visionary and exciting plan. This plan more than amply meets the purported goals of Bill 23 to support housing development across the province. In many ways, this plan greatly exceeds the probable real world impacts likely to flow from Bill 23 by pursuing locally relevant and realistic solutions to address the crisis in affordable housing in ways that Bill 23 only appears to undermine.