Mayor David Miller today celebrated the imminent inclusion of Toronto’s Don and Humber River Valleys within southern Ontario’s protected Greenbelt, making them entirely untouchable by developers.
“There are still always attempts to encroach on this greenspace,” said Mr. Miller. “If you want to live in a city with these beautiful ravines, you have to protect them.”
Speaking from the banks of the Don River, a picturesque sight following this morning’s snowfall, Mr. Miller called Torontonians “great environmentalists” who want the greenspace mixed with their urban landscape protected from development.
On Tuesday, city council unanimously agreed to request the province add the two ravines to their protected greenbelt. Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Jim Bradley said the province will quickly approve the city’s request, making it the first greenbelt to cut through Toronto’s dense urban population.
“Ontarians wanted something better than unsustainable, sprawling development and the congestion and pollution it brings with it,” said Mr. Bradley.
Ontario’s Greenbelt includes 1.8 million acres of farmland, forests and watersheds, including areas in the Niagara escarpment and Oak Ridges Moraine area. Toronto’s Rouge River park, east of Markham, is already protected.
The 37-kilometre-long Humber River and the 53-kilometre-long Don River would connect other areas of the Greenbelt to Lake Ontario.
Ontario’s Greenbelt plan celebrates its fifth anniversary this weekend. In 2008, the province developed criteria for municipalities who want to add land to the Greenbelt. Toronto will be the first region have an area added since then.
The city had already placed major limitations on construction in the flood plains, following 1954’s devastating Hurricane Hazel. This move, Mr. Bradley said, is more than just symbolic.
“This adds some permanency to that,” he said. “This area is provincially protected now.”
Mr. Bradley said the Greenbelt already “pays a lot of ecological bills” by cleaning the air and protecting agricultural farmland, adding it works out to be $2.6-billion in economic benefit.
Read more: http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/toronto/archive/2010/02/26/humber-don-rivers-added-to-greenbelt.aspx#ixzz0gjsHS8BN
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Saturday, February 27, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Town loses appeal on golf course
Andy | 7:56 AM | 
Aurora has been handed another setback in its fight to stop a golf course and housing development on the environmentally sensitive Oak Ridges Moraine.
Earlier this month, a divisional court dismissed an appeal by the town and local residents arguing a joint board hearing involving representatives of the Ontario Municipal Board and the Environmental Review Tribunal would be necessary to gauge the suitability of the Westhill Development, eyed for an area near Leslie Street and Bloomington Road.
Lebovic Homes plans to build an 18-hole golf course and 75 luxury homes on the site, but the application was denied by council in 2008.
Since then, the matter has bounced back and forth between the OMB and the divisional court with the former body denying a joint board hearing and the latter supporting its lack of jurisdiction to even order one.
As such, the divisional court has repeatedly said the OMB is the appropriate venue to address the myriad of concerns raised by the town and residents.
Undaunted by the recent divisional court ruling, Mayor Phyllis Morris said she and her colleagues have since ordered their counsel to launch another appeal.
It's important for the town to win the Westhill case, she said, as it could well prove precedent-setting for future developments on the moraine.
"The cost of doing this is expensive, but the cost of not doing it is far greater as far as the environment is concerned," she said.
At stake, according to Mrs. Morris, is the water upon which residents around the proposed development rely. It's a fight now two years and counting, Mrs. Morris said, adding the town isn't about to abandon citizens in need.
"If you were one of the landowners on well water, wouldn't you want your council to do whatever it could?" she said.
Residents adjacent to the Westhill development shouldn't have any fears about their water levels, Lebovic Enterprises executive vice-president of Lloyd Cherniak said.
The new homes would draw well water from a different aquifer, he said, adding golf course sprinklers wouldn't draw water from the ground at all, instead making use of collected rain water and treated wastewater from the 75 homes on the site.
"They never really understood the proposal, even though we tried to explain it to them," Mr. Cherniak said.
It's difficult to understand the position of those opposing the project as the only end they've achieved so far is delays, Mr. Cherniak said.
That said, developments, such as the divisional court ruling, aren't surprising, he added.
"How do you argue the OMB isn't qualified to deal with this? It's their mandate," he said. "For God's sake, at least half of Aurora is on the Oak Ridges Moraine as it is. The people objecting to us are on the Oak Ridges Moraine, too."
Despite arguments to the contrary, resident Susan Jones said she isn't convinced her well is safe.
She has one golf course to the north of her property and another proposed for the south. As a result, she is somewhat perplexed by the resistance of the various government bodies to holding a joint board hearing.
"We're still concerned about water usage and the environment," Ms Jones said. "I'm not sure if anyone knows for sure if local wells will be affected or not. There hasn't been any good science on the effect of all of this cumulative water-taking on the moraine.
"As it is now, I'm within walking distance of four golf courses here on Leslie Street."
Councillor Evelyn Buck, the lone member of council who voted against denying the Westhill application, said she's concerned by the cost to taxpayers for the various hearings and court appearance so far, especially since the OMB hearing dealing with the actual application has yet to take place.
Costs have been cited at $135,000 and rising, Ms Buck said, adding they will only continue to increase during a two or three-week OMB hearing, whenever it actually takes place.
She said she doesn't dispute the rights of residents who became involved in the battle, but questions why the town did.
"The residents retained (a lawyer) and they had a right to do that," she said. "Everyone has a right to protect their own interests."
Mr. Beaman said he has already filed a leave to appeal. Should it be granted, the case will next be heard at the Ontario Court of Appeals, but if denied, it will go back to the OMB for a hearing.
Either way, there likely won't be any progress in the case until fall.
Earlier this month, a divisional court dismissed an appeal by the town and local residents arguing a joint board hearing involving representatives of the Ontario Municipal Board and the Environmental Review Tribunal would be necessary to gauge the suitability of the Westhill Development, eyed for an area near Leslie Street and Bloomington Road.
Lebovic Homes plans to build an 18-hole golf course and 75 luxury homes on the site, but the application was denied by council in 2008.
Since then, the matter has bounced back and forth between the OMB and the divisional court with the former body denying a joint board hearing and the latter supporting its lack of jurisdiction to even order one.
As such, the divisional court has repeatedly said the OMB is the appropriate venue to address the myriad of concerns raised by the town and residents.
Undaunted by the recent divisional court ruling, Mayor Phyllis Morris said she and her colleagues have since ordered their counsel to launch another appeal.
It's important for the town to win the Westhill case, she said, as it could well prove precedent-setting for future developments on the moraine.
"The cost of doing this is expensive, but the cost of not doing it is far greater as far as the environment is concerned," she said.
At stake, according to Mrs. Morris, is the water upon which residents around the proposed development rely. It's a fight now two years and counting, Mrs. Morris said, adding the town isn't about to abandon citizens in need.
"If you were one of the landowners on well water, wouldn't you want your council to do whatever it could?" she said.
Residents adjacent to the Westhill development shouldn't have any fears about their water levels, Lebovic Enterprises executive vice-president of Lloyd Cherniak said.
The new homes would draw well water from a different aquifer, he said, adding golf course sprinklers wouldn't draw water from the ground at all, instead making use of collected rain water and treated wastewater from the 75 homes on the site.
"They never really understood the proposal, even though we tried to explain it to them," Mr. Cherniak said.
It's difficult to understand the position of those opposing the project as the only end they've achieved so far is delays, Mr. Cherniak said.
That said, developments, such as the divisional court ruling, aren't surprising, he added.
"How do you argue the OMB isn't qualified to deal with this? It's their mandate," he said. "For God's sake, at least half of Aurora is on the Oak Ridges Moraine as it is. The people objecting to us are on the Oak Ridges Moraine, too."
Despite arguments to the contrary, resident Susan Jones said she isn't convinced her well is safe.
She has one golf course to the north of her property and another proposed for the south. As a result, she is somewhat perplexed by the resistance of the various government bodies to holding a joint board hearing.
"We're still concerned about water usage and the environment," Ms Jones said. "I'm not sure if anyone knows for sure if local wells will be affected or not. There hasn't been any good science on the effect of all of this cumulative water-taking on the moraine.
"As it is now, I'm within walking distance of four golf courses here on Leslie Street."
Councillor Evelyn Buck, the lone member of council who voted against denying the Westhill application, said she's concerned by the cost to taxpayers for the various hearings and court appearance so far, especially since the OMB hearing dealing with the actual application has yet to take place.
Costs have been cited at $135,000 and rising, Ms Buck said, adding they will only continue to increase during a two or three-week OMB hearing, whenever it actually takes place.
She said she doesn't dispute the rights of residents who became involved in the battle, but questions why the town did.
"The residents retained (a lawyer) and they had a right to do that," she said. "Everyone has a right to protect their own interests."
Mr. Beaman said he has already filed a leave to appeal. Should it be granted, the case will next be heard at the Ontario Court of Appeals, but if denied, it will go back to the OMB for a hearing.
Either way, there likely won't be any progress in the case until fall.
Friday, February 12, 2010
MyKawartha Article: Wind turbine motion blows through school board
Andy | 6:49 AM |
(LINDSAY) A round of applause rang out after public school board trustees agreed to support a community group's drive to have an independent study on the health effects of wind turbines conducted by the province.
More than a dozen members of the Manvers Gone With the Wind group were at the Lindsay education centre on Tuesday (Feb. 9) to hear how Trillium Lakelands District School Board trustees, via videoconference, would deal with a motion put forward by trustee Don Alton.
Energy Farming Ontario proposes to construct up to 30 wind turbines in the Bethany area. The Settlers Landing Snowy Ridge Wind Park project spans east to Porter Road, west to the Manvers-Scugog Line, north to Lifford Road and south to Telecom Road.
Two schools - Rolling Hills and Grandview public school - are within the proposed site. Concern for the safety of children attending the schools led the group to seek the school board's assistance in identifying possible health effects prior to development; echoing a letter sent to the board late last year by City of Kawartha Lakes council.
Since presenting it as a notice of motion on Jan. 26, Mr. Alton had amended the motion to remove 'in principle' and add a recommendation for greater setbacks around schools.
Trustee Elaine Beatty expressed concerns over the motion, asking for clarification as to if the motion was meant to potentially influence permit approvals.
She was assured this was not the intention of the motion.
"They just want to have the study done in advance," explained Mr. Alton.
Director of education Larry Hope also expressed concerns over removing 'in principle', citing, if the matter becomes a legal issue for Gone With the Wind, the school board could be liable for costs.
As a result, the words were returned to the motion.
The motion was further amended to remove the added statement regarding setbacks as well as sending a letter to more than a dozen agencies and individuals, as well as all MPPs, MPs, health unit medical officers, school boards and municipalities. Trustee Judy Saunders supported the latter change, citing there was no need to distribute the motion to so many others as it would be "on public record" if approved by the board.
"I would leave it there," she added.
All but one trustee - Ms Beatty - voted in favour of the much-adjusted motion.
While the motion must still be approved by the board at its Feb. 23 regular meeting, Heather Stauble, Gone With the Wind member, is pleased the local board has joined a growing number of schools boards and 48 municipalities in requesting the independent health study. She hopes the province will take notice, put a moratorium on further wind projects and calls for the study.
She cites potential health problems caused by wind turbines, including tinnitis, anxiety, depression, sleep deprivation and headaches, the environmental impact on the Oak Ridges Moraine as well as livestock and wildlife, and the need for greater setbacks - the minimum is 550 metres but 1.5 kilometres is recommended - are key issues which need to be addressed before any permits are issued for the project.
"If they can solve all those problems and wind energy turns out to be the efficient solution we're being led to believe, then there may be a place in our infrastructure," said Ms Stauble. "There is a much greater cost to this than we realize. . . If people are going to become sick because these are too close to homes and schools, then it's too great a cost."
More than a dozen members of the Manvers Gone With the Wind group were at the Lindsay education centre on Tuesday (Feb. 9) to hear how Trillium Lakelands District School Board trustees, via videoconference, would deal with a motion put forward by trustee Don Alton.
Energy Farming Ontario proposes to construct up to 30 wind turbines in the Bethany area. The Settlers Landing Snowy Ridge Wind Park project spans east to Porter Road, west to the Manvers-Scugog Line, north to Lifford Road and south to Telecom Road.
Two schools - Rolling Hills and Grandview public school - are within the proposed site. Concern for the safety of children attending the schools led the group to seek the school board's assistance in identifying possible health effects prior to development; echoing a letter sent to the board late last year by City of Kawartha Lakes council.
Since presenting it as a notice of motion on Jan. 26, Mr. Alton had amended the motion to remove 'in principle' and add a recommendation for greater setbacks around schools.
Trustee Elaine Beatty expressed concerns over the motion, asking for clarification as to if the motion was meant to potentially influence permit approvals.
She was assured this was not the intention of the motion.
"They just want to have the study done in advance," explained Mr. Alton.
Director of education Larry Hope also expressed concerns over removing 'in principle', citing, if the matter becomes a legal issue for Gone With the Wind, the school board could be liable for costs.
As a result, the words were returned to the motion.
The motion was further amended to remove the added statement regarding setbacks as well as sending a letter to more than a dozen agencies and individuals, as well as all MPPs, MPs, health unit medical officers, school boards and municipalities. Trustee Judy Saunders supported the latter change, citing there was no need to distribute the motion to so many others as it would be "on public record" if approved by the board.
"I would leave it there," she added.
All but one trustee - Ms Beatty - voted in favour of the much-adjusted motion.
While the motion must still be approved by the board at its Feb. 23 regular meeting, Heather Stauble, Gone With the Wind member, is pleased the local board has joined a growing number of schools boards and 48 municipalities in requesting the independent health study. She hopes the province will take notice, put a moratorium on further wind projects and calls for the study.
She cites potential health problems caused by wind turbines, including tinnitis, anxiety, depression, sleep deprivation and headaches, the environmental impact on the Oak Ridges Moraine as well as livestock and wildlife, and the need for greater setbacks - the minimum is 550 metres but 1.5 kilometres is recommended - are key issues which need to be addressed before any permits are issued for the project.
"If they can solve all those problems and wind energy turns out to be the efficient solution we're being led to believe, then there may be a place in our infrastructure," said Ms Stauble. "There is a much greater cost to this than we realize. . . If people are going to become sick because these are too close to homes and schools, then it's too great a cost."
MyKawartha Article: Wind turbine motion blows through school board.
Climate change debate is overwhelming
Andy | 5:51 AM |
To the Editor:
Re: 'Cause of climate change worthy of debate', guest column, Feb. 7.
The ongoing debate about man's role in climate change, at times, is more than just a little overwhelming.
The present cycling started about two-and-a-half million year ago and is continuing.
The last million years have been documented by drill cores from glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica, the CO2 content of the ice is related to the atmospheric temperature.
Man's role today may cause some fluctuations in the cycling, but that is an area of 'who knows?'.
Living here in Northumberland, we have a picturesque landscape due to the last glaciation, the Wisconsin, or in Europe, the Wuurm. The hills are mostly drumlins and the Oak Ridges Moraine gives us a northern border. This moraine is an interglobal moraine from the Wisconsin stadial.
For reasons unknown, many people believe that the 'Ice age' ended 10,000 years ago, but it did not, after the Arctic and Antarctic ice finish melting a new cycle will begin, or one can consider it just as a continuum.
The reasons why the cycling began is unknown, some people blame South America, but we had glaciation in the Precambrian, there is an argument that it is caused by events in outer space, whatever the cause it has been with us for a long time and will continue.
I have even been told the climate problems are more related to the hot air given off by various governments.
Richard E. Bridges
Cobourg
newsdurhamregion.com |Climate change debate is overwhelming
Friday, February 5, 2010
Millbrook water fight runs deeper
Andy | 4:22 AM |
Water
Residents in and around Millbrook have expressed substantial opposition to a proposed development of massive proportions in nearby Fraserville. Cavan Monaghan Township has planned an expansion to the Kawartha Downs casino, as well as nearly 700 homes, a golf course, big box stores, an entertainment complex, and so on. The crux of the issue is water; due to contamination of groundwater in Fraserville the township wants to pipe water from Millbrook's wells, 12 kilometres away.
One essential element missing from recent news reports is that two of Millbrook's three wells are within the protected area of the Oak Ridges Moraine. The moraine is a source of drinking water for more than a quarter million people. It acts as a giant filter for Southern Ontario, purifying water and then dispersing it into 65 rivers and streams that replenish the Southern Ontario lakes that millions more Ontarians draw their water from.
Earthroots actively pushed for protection for the Oak Ridges Moraine, which passed in 2001, and we are extremely concerned with this development. Under the Oak Ridges Moraine protection, Peterborough County is obligated to produce progressive water plans to safeguard and sustainably allocate moraine water resources, a requirement that has yet to be fulfilled. This fact forbids the county from allowing major developments like Fraserville. However, as the Fraserville development is not on the moraine it can legally draw its water from the moraine, exposing a giant loophole in the legislation.
People in Millbrook and surrounding area are literally losing sleep over concerns for their water. If the water table is lowered it could severely impact wells for miles around.
Township Reeve Neil Cathcart is on record as stating: "The whole thing of it is if you go back to its infancy, it was about bringing water to Fraserville for Kawartha Downs. That's still the goal of the township." This makes sense, as Kawartha Downs is a massive revenue generator for the township and likely does not want to pay for an expensive water treatment system. The township's justification for spending $30 million of public money to pipe water from the protected Oak Ridges Moraine to Fraserville and the casino is seemingly to construct a brand new city on what is now fields and forest.
But wait a minute! Shouldn't the province's award-winning Places to Grow plan preclude a new city in a rural area, without usable water? When Millbrook citizens contacted the Growth Secretariat they learned that applications for Fraserville were submitted months prior to the growth plan's enactment, giving it a pass on this integral legislation as well.
We are witnessing a complete breakdown in provincial policies aimed at stopping exactly this sort of unsustainable development. If Fraserville establishes the practice of allowing development outside of the moraine to be serviced with moraine water, many lands surrounding the greenbelt with insufficient water for development will quickly become alluring opportunities for developers. As lands closer to Toronto continue to fall victim to more sprawl, tapping into the moraine for off-site development would not only have untold impacts on its water systems, it would also further diminish the greenbelt's ability to limit sprawl and keep development within urban areas already serviced by infrastructure.
Josh Kohler and Josh Garfinkel work for Earthroots, a Toronto-based environmental organization.
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One essential element missing from recent news reports is that two of Millbrook's three wells are within the protected area of the Oak Ridges Moraine. The moraine is a source of drinking water for more than a quarter million people. It acts as a giant filter for Southern Ontario, purifying water and then dispersing it into 65 rivers and streams that replenish the Southern Ontario lakes that millions more Ontarians draw their water from.
Earthroots actively pushed for protection for the Oak Ridges Moraine, which passed in 2001, and we are extremely concerned with this development. Under the Oak Ridges Moraine protection, Peterborough County is obligated to produce progressive water plans to safeguard and sustainably allocate moraine water resources, a requirement that has yet to be fulfilled. This fact forbids the county from allowing major developments like Fraserville. However, as the Fraserville development is not on the moraine it can legally draw its water from the moraine, exposing a giant loophole in the legislation.
People in Millbrook and surrounding area are literally losing sleep over concerns for their water. If the water table is lowered it could severely impact wells for miles around.
Township Reeve Neil Cathcart is on record as stating: "The whole thing of it is if you go back to its infancy, it was about bringing water to Fraserville for Kawartha Downs. That's still the goal of the township." This makes sense, as Kawartha Downs is a massive revenue generator for the township and likely does not want to pay for an expensive water treatment system. The township's justification for spending $30 million of public money to pipe water from the protected Oak Ridges Moraine to Fraserville and the casino is seemingly to construct a brand new city on what is now fields and forest.
But wait a minute! Shouldn't the province's award-winning Places to Grow plan preclude a new city in a rural area, without usable water? When Millbrook citizens contacted the Growth Secretariat they learned that applications for Fraserville were submitted months prior to the growth plan's enactment, giving it a pass on this integral legislation as well.
We are witnessing a complete breakdown in provincial policies aimed at stopping exactly this sort of unsustainable development. If Fraserville establishes the practice of allowing development outside of the moraine to be serviced with moraine water, many lands surrounding the greenbelt with insufficient water for development will quickly become alluring opportunities for developers. As lands closer to Toronto continue to fall victim to more sprawl, tapping into the moraine for off-site development would not only have untold impacts on its water systems, it would also further diminish the greenbelt's ability to limit sprawl and keep development within urban areas already serviced by infrastructure.
Josh Kohler and Josh Garfinkel work for Earthroots, a Toronto-based environmental organization.
Millbrook water fight runs deeper - Peterborough Examiner - Ontario, CA.
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