Province's Greenbelt plans could impact Town of Erin for several decades, says mayor

When the province opened up 7,400 acres of the Greenbelt to development, it also promised to redesignate other plots of land back into the protected zone. But the majority of that promised land (about 7,000 acres) is concentrated in one area — the Town of Erin.

The redesignation of the Greenbelt is part of the Ontario government's plan to build 1.5 million more homes over the next 10 years, in response to the province's housing crisis. As part of its action plan, the government passed the controversial More Homes Built Faster Act, also known as Bill 23, on Monday.

Of particular concern, for the Town of Erin, is the province's intention to "add lands in the Paris Galt Moraine to the Greenbelt area, designated as protected countryside with a natural heritage system." 

Groundwater from the Paris Galt Moraine is used by thousands of residents living in the Grand River watershed area.

'This will affect the overall plans'

Town of Erin Mayor Michael Dehn says that a little less than 20 per cent of the municipality's population resides in small communities and family farms on the land intended for redesignation. 

He added that the province's plan has left many people in these communities feeling uncertain over the rights they have to the land they live and work on.

"This will affect the overall plans," Dehn said. "The next 10-year plan, 50-year plan for what's going to happen in the community. Not having a lot of input into this, actually not really having any input into it, has made it more difficult for the planners to go about and find out what's next for us."

Dehn said he hasn't heard much yet from the provincial government.

"It just seems that communication isn't what it should be and there should be a little bit of, 'Do you feel this is positive, do you feel this is negative? Are you strongly one way or the other?"

"That would have been, I think, a reasonable request, a reasonable discussion between Queen's Park and the municipalities and the county."

The government is still accepting public feedback on its proposed amendments to the Greenbelt Act that would see 9,400 acres of the Greenbelt redistributed.

Those lands would then be protected under The Greenbelt Act, which safeguards agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands in the Greater Golden Horseshoe area from development.

CBC News reached out to the office of Steve Clark, Ontario's minister of municipal affairs and housing, but did not receive an immediate response.

A spokesperson for minister Clark's office later said in an email to CBC News the government consulted on ways to grow the Greenbelt in early 2021, which included a study on the Paris Galt Moraine as a priority area.

The government is also proposing to add 13 urban river valley areas in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, the spokesperson added, that were consulted on by the ministry between March and April of this year.