[All] Please, take a minute to write to your councillor about Hidden Valley, this week!

[Daphne NICHOLLS]

Hi GRENners, 
The lead editorial in Saturday's Record (link below) recommends that those people who care about saving Hidden Valley, Kitchener as a "Natural Area Park" should contact their councillors now. Please, write while the issue's hot!
 
Write your councillor, and write the Editor, John Roe ( jroe at therecord.com), in response to the article. If you're short on time, you could simply say "I agree with  the Record editorial of January 21st, 2012: We must preserve Hidden Valley".  The councillors' email addresses can be found in the blue pages of the phone book, and on line.
 
If you live in Waterloo, or Cambridge, your councillors can encourage the Region to take a stronger stand, especially to protect Regional drinking water.
 
If you'd like to write a longer letter, here is a bit more background information.
 
Hidden Valley is more than a beautiful area of woods, fields and Provincially Significant wetlands. It's 200 acres of healthy ecosystems which impact our water and air quality. Water and air impact our health, and therefore our economy. Hidden Valley's worth as "Natural Capital" should be evaluated, before any development or road construction occurs in the area.
 
Without clean water to drink and clean air to breathe, what else will matter?
 
Water: The water from the three Provincially Significant Wetlands in Hidden Valley enters the Grand River, right where 22% of the Region's drinking water is piped out and sent to Manheim for treatment. Any contaminants from development, roads and parking lots would end up there. But not all contaminants, including road salt, oil and gasoline can be removed, so surely the precautionary principle should apply. That would mean that the business parks (zoned B1 and B2, which could include manufacturing) and the subdivision which are permitted in Hidden Valley, should NOT be constructed. This beautiful and biodiverse ecosystem is simply too valuable, just as it is! The zoning bylaws  were established 24 years ago are out-of-date: current zoning standards, would not permit this kind of development. Hidden Valley needs to be rezoned. 
 
Air: The construction of the River Rd. extension, including new ramps onto highway 8, would require clearcutting a large portion of the mature forest near highway 8. The Grand River Conservation Authority recommends forest coverage of 30%, but  Kitchener has less than 12% forest coverage. Trees produce oxygen and remove an equal volume of carbon dioxide. How much does your councillor think we should value of this natural air purifying system, when air pollution in KW is the worst in the province?  Parks: At a time when the population of Waterloo Region is going to increase by 200,000 people in the next 19 years, we need a variety of parks for recreational needs. Hidden Valley, with it's wonderful wildflowers, nesting and migratory birds, and beautiful hills and valleys is an oasis in the heart of the Region. We need more parks, not fewer parks. Let's preserve Hidden Valley. Please send an email and then circulate this request to as many people as possible. As the Record states, now is the time to speak up.  Thank you! Sincerely, Daphne Nicholls 
Let's preserve Hidden Valley
http://www.therecord.com/opinion/editorial/article/658865--let-s-preserve-hidden-valley 


 		 	   		   		 	   		  
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