Thursday, May 24, 2012

Sandy Agnew - Chair of AWARE sub Committee

Here are the remarks by Sandy Agnew regarding the concerns about the growth direction that is being proposed by the County of Simcoe. These remarks were made at the AWARE Simcoe Media Conference, May 23, 2012


Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Thanks you for coming out this morning. My name is Sandy Agnew and I’m a member of the AWARE Simcoe board and chair of our AWARE Growth Subcommittee.

We’ve invited you here to share our views on Amendment 1 of the Provincial Places to Grow Plan, the so called made-in-Simcoe County plan to manage growth to 2031 in Simcoe County.

This Amendment one has many major shortcomings.

There is no long term vision for what the residents of Simcoe County want the County look like in 50 or 75 years. I come from Vaughan. 50 years ago it was a rural farming township. Do we want Simcoe County look like the GTA?

We need to know what the maximum population is that can be sustainably supported by the land, water and ecological functions of the County? Is it 500,000, a million? How many people is the upper target to live in Simcoe County, Barrie and Orillia?

The County planning department is telling County Council that this Amendment is a “Good to go” plan that allows development to proceed in up to 91 Settlement Areas across the county, regardless of the 667,000 number cited by the province. This appears to be based on the myth that all growth in good, always leads to prosperity and can continue forever.

For starters, the notion that growth can continue forever is utterly ridiculous. It is the philosophy of a cancer cell. And we know that cancer, left untreated, always ends in the death of the host, in this case our planet.

On the other hand, the province is telling us that the 667,000 number stands and they want to see growth directed to the seven Primary Settlement Areas and that there are strict conditions that must be met to allow growth in the non-primary settlement areas.

AWARE Simcoe believes that planning in Simcoe County should be driven by two priorities:

1. The need to preserve farmland and agricultural activity because these are the essential elements that the county can contribute to the Greater Golden Horseshoe, and

2. The need to limit sprawl, because it is a wasteful and short sighted use of precious resources and will irrevocably change our unique and fertile landscape.

Among AWARE Simcoe recommendations to the province are:

1. A study to determine the level of sustainable population for Simcoe County.

2. Legislation to protect agricultural businesses as outlined in the Places To Grow vision.

3. Policies to close the loopholes in Sections 6.3.2.1, 6.3.2.2 and 6.3.2.3 in Amendment 1 allowing unwarranted development.

4. That the Province stand firm with its appeal of the approval of the Midhurst OPA 38 by the County of Simcoe and stop the development on these prime pieces of agricultural land.