More than 6,000 farms are inside of the protected area
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Some protected Ontario land could be opened for development if Doug Ford and the PCs form the next provincial government in June.
Yesterday, the Liberal party shared a video from Feb. 12, which shows Ford speaking with developers about how to reduce housing costs. At the time, he was a PC leadership candidate.
“We will open up the Greenbelt,” he said in the video. “We’re going to open a big chunk of it up and we’re going to start building and making (living in Ontario) more affordable and putting more houses out there.”
When questioned Monday about using Greenbelt lands for housing developments, Ford reaffirmed his position.
“Anything that we will look at on the Greenbelt will be replaced, so there will still be an equal amount of Greenbelt,” he told reporters yesterday.
Ag implications
The Greenbelt is made up of about 1.8 million acres of land that stretches from Niagara to Northumberland and from Dufferin to Bruce counties.
More than 61 percent of the Greenbelt is farmland and more than 6,000 farms are located within the protected space, according to Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation.
Those farmlands need to be protected, said Janet Harrop, a dairy farmer from Wellington County.
2017 Greenbelt Plan Map
Photo: Greenbelt.ca
“Even land that’s less productive (than prime land) can be used for pasture,” she told Farms.com today. “We’re having more people that we have to feed, and we hope no more land would be cleared for development.”
Allowing development on Greenbelt lands may also set a dangerous precedent.
If small pieces of the greenspace is used periodically for residential or commercial development, there may be a risk of the Greenbelt shrinking, said Mitch Morawetz, a land use planner and cash crop grower from Durham County.
“Opening up the Greenbelt is not the right idea at all,” he told Farms.com today. “It’s supposed to be a hard boundary so that responsible land use planning decisions can be made. The farmland and natural environment need to be protected and should stay that way.”
Ford releases statement on Greenbelt development
In a statement today, Doug Ford announced he will no longer open parts of the Greenbelt for development.
“I looked at it as making sure we have more affordable housing,” Ford said in the statement. “There have been a lot of voices saying that they don’t want to touch the Greenbelt. I govern through the people, I don’t govern through government.”
“The people have spoken - we won’t touch the greenbelt. Very simple. That’s it, the people have spoken. I’m going to listen to them, they don’t want me to touch the greenbelt, we won’t touch the greenbelt. Simple as that.”
The following wording will be included in the upcoming Ontario PC Platform:
"Increase the supply of affordable housing across the GTA while protecting the Greenbelt in its entirety."