[All] Fw: Residents groups are pulling the brake on gravel mining

Mon May 15 13:34:00 EDT 2023

Update includes a new report. 

Lulu 

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On Monday, May 15, 2023, 9:59 AM, Reform Gravel Mining Coalition <campaign at reformgravelmining.ca> wrote:

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Louisette --

Across Ontario, Trilliums areblooming, Fiddleheads are ready for harvesting, and turtles and frogsare laying their eggs. This means it's community meeting season forthe Reform Gravel Mining Coalition (RGMC),and an increasing number of residents groups are ramping up theirefforts to pull the emergency brake on unnecessary gravel mining. Theyare doing so with the help of RGMC’s Municipal Action Plan—a four-point program forresidents to engage their Councillors in pressing pause on new gravelmining approvals, reviewing and strengthening regulations, andcreating a new standard for aggregate extraction at both the municipal and provinciallevels

Since the launch of the plan in April, three new community groups have contactedRGMC to ask for help engaging their Councillors. Your ongoing supportenables us to work directly with these andover a dozen community groups that are on the front lines ofprotecting lives and the environment from gravel mining. Thank you forbeing part of our growing movement!

In solidarity,

Mike Balkwill, Campaign Director,RGMC

Behind the Berms

Ford government policies are coercing municipalCouncils to turn their backs on community groups that oppose gravelmining.

In early March, the Council ofWilmot Township, inthe Region of Waterloo, pulled the rug out from under a residentsgroup opposed to the controversial Hallman gravel pit. Rather thanupholding the previous Council’s commitment to oppose the pit at theOntario Land Tribunal (OLT), an entirely new Council, operating behindclosed doors, reached a surprise settlement with the gravel miningcompany. 

The Mayor said the Council chose to settle withthe company after being told it had a 97% chance of losing at the OLT,and that as a losing party the Township could be forced to pay thecosts of the entire hearing. This is due to amendments to Bill 23 passed by the Ford government whichpermit the OLT to force a losing party to pay the costs of an entirehearing without providing any reasoning for doing so. 

A couple of weeks after the Wilmot Council’sdecision, theWoolwich TownCouncil followed suit, striking a deal with Capital Paving on a zonechange and Official Plan amendment application that will allow thecompany to go forward with the proposed pit. This is a troublingdevelopment, as an increasing number of otherwise supportive Councilsare being intimidated into curbing residents’ rights.

To combat this attack on municipal and communityparticipation, we are asking you to:

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Send a letter asking your Council to advocate with the OLT

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Send a letter asking the Association of Municipalities ofOntario (AMO) to advocate withthe OLT

Let’s work together to protect communityparticipation!

On The Ground

As the weather warms in Ontario, members of theRGMC Steering Committee are observing the hustle and bustle of theflora and fauna they work so hard to protect.

David Jeffery shares from Simcoe County: “TheRobins are a riotous chorus early each morning, joined by Cardinals,woodpeckers and now, just arrived the Thrashers. Lilacs are justcracking open, and all of the fruit trees that run the perimeter ofthe forest in our backyard are about to pop into bloom. Dandelions ofcourse, Trout lily and Trillium are all at their peak right now alongwith Tulips and Daffodils.”

Rebecca Garrett from Friends of Ball’s Bridge and Little Lakes (FOBBLL)in Huron County writes: “We have deliciouswild leeks in the forest and fiddle heads on the bank of theMaitland/Menesetung River. The trilliums are blooming, the wild gingeris like a carpet with little star-shaped maroon blossoms. The turtlesare starting to lay their eggs, and soon hundreds of baby frogs willbe crossing Little Lakes Road.”

RGMC community groups are taking advantage ofthe warm weather to organise and mobilise.

On April 25, RGMC member group FOBBLL organiseda successful community meeting in Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Townshipin Huron County. There, residents are fighting a below the water tablegravel pit, proposed by the company Lobo Sand & Gravel, whichthreatens the environmentally and culturally valuable area of Ball’sBridge and Little Lakes. At the meeting, FOBBLL unveiled a mapof over 50 existing gravel pits in the Maitland/Menesetung RiverWatershed, which are licensed to extract a total of 5.8 million tonnesa year.

Community members called on their Mayor andCouncillors to work with them to hire experts who will testify aboutthe social and environmental impacts of the proposed mine at an OLThearing in September. FOBBLL stated:“Councillors should work with us to retain experts in order to ensurethis is a full and fair hearing in which the OLT has all theinformation it needs to make the right decision for our Township, theCounty and the entire watershed.”

On April 20, RGMC member group CORE Burlington held a successful Town Hallmeeting with over 100 attendees.CORE is ramping up actions to protect Mount Nemo from the expansion ofNelson Aggregates’ gravel mine—an unnecessary and reckless proposalwhich the municipality and community already rejected in 2012.

CORE members wrote: “We all left the meetingfeeling energized by the response from our community. The meetingtruly demonstrated the power of ‘grass roots energy’: people comingtogether united by the common purpose of stopping Nelson Aggregatesfrom blasting more holes on our Mount Nemo escarpment, and inspired bya common love of this beautiful brimming of greenbelt lands thatsnuggles the urban areas of Burlington.” 

Take action now

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Send a letter asking your Council and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario(AMO) to ask the OLT not to force losing parties to pay the costsof a hearing.

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Sign the COREpetition to request Burlington City council commit its full financial, legaland staff resources to opposing Nelson’s application at the criticalOLT hearing.   

In The News

In The Pointer, journalist Rachel Morgan coveredthe developing story of the successful push by RGMC member Forks ofthe Credit Preservation Group (FCPG) to reform gravel mining inCaledon, one of Ontario's top aggregate producing municipalities. Readthe full story here: Caledon mayor vows council will deny application for800-acre blasting quarry; so what happens next?.

Thank you for being part of the growingmovement to reform gravel mining in Ontario!

Reform Gravel Mining Coalition
http://www.reformgravelmining.ca/
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