[All] Provincial Greenbelt Expansion Council Presentations and Submissions by March 7th

Fri Mar 2 11:40:21 EST 2018

Hi GREN folks,

Things continue to progress in advance of the March 7th deadline for submissions on the Provincial Greenbelt Expansion Proposal.   

Council Delegations

This past Monday night I presented to Wilmot Township Council on behalf of GREN in response to their Staff Report.  The presentation seemed to be well received though they seem to continue to be more concerned about ensuring the ongoing expansion of Baden/New Hamburg than the protection of their rural areas which they feel are already adequately protected.

I presented as a delegation before Waterloo Regional Council (Planning and Works) on Tuesday and it was good to see the 30 minutes+ of discussion, questions, and the considerable support for Greenbelt expansion (provided of course that our local protections already in place are not compromised).  

Chair Ken Seiling and Councillors received a letter right before the meeting from the Minister of Municipal Affairs Bill Mauro providing very important assurances that the Region’s concerns had been heard and would be addressed - that the Greenbelt Plan would be changed as needed to ensure our stronger local protections prevail, that the better data and mapping available in Waterloo Region would be utilized, and recognizing Waterloo Region’s leadership on environmental, planning and Smart Growth issues.  A letter such as this is from the Minister is extremely unusual and it was well received by Council - making a very positive impact that several Councillors cited specifically in their comments.  I have attached a copy of the letter below.

In the end, despite the letter from the Minister, a resolution was approved by the Region stating that they would oppose the Greenbelt unless the Region’s concerns are addressed.  I had advocated for the more positive approach of “Support, provided…” rather than “Oppose, unless…” - they both say the same thing but with a different nuance and both support Greenbelt expansion provided concerns are addressed.  However, Ken Seiling admitted that he personally got involved in the drafting of the Staff Report to request the negative wording believing that it would get more attention and ultimately results from the province.

The things that the Region is asking for are completely reasonable (Staff Report below) - particularly given our dependence on local aquifers for almost all of our water needs and having to live within the carrying capacity of our watershed more than almost any other part of the province.  I believe that the province will successfully address these issues as Minister Mauro’s letter suggested and that we will see strong support for Greenbelt expansion.  Certainly the comments of so many Mayors and Councillors on Tuesday were very supportive including meeting chair Tom Galloway who spoke at length about the numerous advantages for the Greenbelt coming to Waterloo Region - they just want to ensure that our stronger local protections aren’t eroded or degraded in any way which makes perfect sense and is certainly something we want to ensure as well.

Staff at the City of Waterloo, Township of Wellesley, and Woolwich Township are still determining if they will be bringing forward reports to their Councils, if so I will plan to delegate a supportive Greenbelt message on behalf of GREN.

GREN Submission

We are preparing a submission to the provincial government from GREN.  It will be circulated in the days ahead for comment.  While not nearly as detailed as the proposed submission by the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance and others, we will attempt to highlight the issues, concerns, and opportunities for Greenbelt expansion in the Grand River watershed as well as ensure positive support for the Greenbelt.

Individual Submissions

Once again, I urge you to make sure that you have spoken up in support of the future that you would like to see and submit a letter, e-mail, or even phone call to the province and other elected officials.  Even if it is just a few simple sentences, it is so important that our voices are heard.  The easiest way is through the automatic e-mail form created by Smart Growth Waterloo Region or directly at the provincial website:

http://contact.smartgrowthwaterloo.ca/greenbelt/

or:

www.ontario.ca/greenbelt

Please let me know any questions or ideas and be sure to have everyone you know speak up before March 7th!  So much of the future success of our province and our future quality of life could depend on this proposal for Greenbelt expansion.

Cheers,
Kevin.

-------------------------------------

Kevin Thomason

1115 Cedar Grove Road
Waterloo, Ontario Canada  N2J 3Z4

Phone: (519) 888-0519
Mobile Phone: (519) 240-1648
Twitter: @kthomason
E-mail: kevinthomason at mac.com

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