[All] Covered Bridge gravel pit

Kim Cuddington kcudding at gmail.com
Wed May 19 09:28:50 EDT 2010


Hi GRENERS,

On Tuesday, May 25 at 7:00 pm there will be a Woolwich township public
meeting regarding the rezoning of an area adjacent to the West
Montrose Covered Bridge from agricultural use to mineral extractive
use. This is step 2 in Capital Paving’s bid to put a 47 hectare,
below-water table gravel pit within 100 m of the Grand River. This pit
is one of 5 gravel pit proposals (submitted or pending) on a 5 km
stretch of the Grand River just north of Waterloo in Woolwich township
(5 new pits in 5 km!).

Of the 5 proposals, this one is easily the most destructive. The
below-water license means that the proponent will be lowering the
water table, and removing the gravel aquifer that feeds the adjacent
wetlands and river. A significant water taking permit will be required
to wash the gravel (somewhere in the region of 0.5 to 1.0 million
litres of water per day), and the location of the proposed wash plant
is immediately beside a 5 hectare wetland. The proposed setback from
the adjacent woodland is a maximum of 6 m (and is only 4 m in some
places), even beside steep 20% grade slopes. The lands for excavation
include class 1 farmland which will never be returned to their current
agricultural classification.

You can view the proposal at:
http://www.woolwich.ca/en/newsevents/GravelPitApplications.asp (links
under Wilbert Martin & George Israel - 1420 Letson Drive, 1433 Letson
Drive Capital Paving Inc.). If you feel strongly about this proposal,
please consider attending the Woolwich public meeting:

Tuesday, May 25, 7 PM
Public Meeting re Capital Paving Gravel Pit
Zoning Change
Council Chambers of the Township Offices
24 Church Street West, Elmira, ON


If you cannot attend, written comments can be sent to:

Township of Woolwich
Jeremy Vink, Senior Planner
Engineering and Planning Services Department
Box 158, 24 Church Street West
Elmira, ON N3B 2Z6
Email: jvink at woolwich.ca


Cheers,
Kim Cuddington




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