The Region has just sent out a update notice in regards to the two Environment Assessments (EA) it is undertaking in Grimsby. While the first Public Information Centre (PIC) was held last year and covered both EAs, they have now been split.
Category: Greenbelt (Page 3 of 3)
The powers that be at Queens Park have introduced Bill 66, although entitled “Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act”, it could have serious implications allowing municipalities to short-circuit existing planning and environmental legislation when it comes to certain development.
With fall in the air, our local enclaves of forests (well, we don’t really have many left below the escarpment) are starting to turn into beautiful hues and the much loved Irish Woodlot in Grimsby is no exception. As such, we thought it would be apt to turn our “How They Voted” eyes onto the Irish Woodlot and the proposed “Livingston Avenue Extension” through it.
Source: Stock Photo via Wikimedia Commons
Yes, the headline may sound a little spectacular but when you start connecting the dots, it is clear that much like the Regional CAO hiring process, there is a “parallel process” at play at the Region with a potential predetermined outcome when it comes to the Greenbelt.
There will be a Public Information Centre on the Casablanca and Livingston Environmental Assessments (EAs) being conducted by the Region.
The PIC will be open tonight (June 20th) from 5PM to 8PM at the Casablanca Winery Inn with a presentation at 6PM.
The EA on the Livingston Avenue Extension has been a controversial topic as it will examine whether to plow through the Greenbelt and Irish Woodlot with a road that most see as unnecessary.
For long-time Grimsby residents, they know the fight to save the Irish Wood Lot has been fought long and hard. For those who are newer to Grimsby, this has been a long battle to stop a proposed extension of Livingston Road through an environmentally unique and sensitive area.
Not only would the extension cost an estimated $8.5 million of taxpayer dollars, but it would essentially be a 1.6 km “road to nowhere” as the lands that it would go through are designated Greenbelt and could not be developed.
As we have previously posted, there will be no land removed from the Greenbelt in Grimsby as a result of the 2017 amendments to The Greenbelt Plan. That however has not deterred the Town’s hope of some “concessions” concerning land around the planned GO station.
The Honourable Bill Mauro, Minister of Municipal Affairs and The Honourable Kathryn McGarry today announced the release of the final Co-ordinated Land Use Planning Review, or as most of us know it for.. the Greenbelt Plan.
Great article by Alexandra Heck that looks at the Greenbelt and it’s state of affairs. It comes as no surprise that the Province maintained it’s dedication on preserving the Greenbelt and didn’t allow developers or local politics to sway them.
Attempting to get changes to the Greenbelt after the review seems like an “exercise in futility”. Highly doubtful there would be changes after the fact as this would open the door for other municipalities to seek the same.
With Grimsby already meeting density targets, one can conceivably ask whose interests are being served in trying to pry land out of our local Greenbelt?
Read the full article at Niagara This Week: https://www.niagarathisweek.com/news-story/7203340-grimsby-mayor-still-in-talks-about-greenbelt/