Destroying an environmental sanctuary?
- Details
- Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
- Written by editor
PAOV — The Ontario government has expedited a one million square foot warehouse development in southwestern Ontario, and the community is fighting back. The planned development is on historically significant conservation lands and an environmental sanctuary that is home to over 4,000 different species. If you think that the government should reconsider the warehouse development, sign the petition now.
Help Save the Village of Blair From a Development on Heritage Conservation Lands
12,109 have signed Paige Burchell’s petition. Let’s get to 15,000!
Sign now with a clickOn April 6, 2021, the residents of the Village of Blair in Cambridge, Ontario learned that Cambridge City Council had voted unanimously for the approval of a one million square foot warehouse development to be built at the corner of Dickie Settlement Road and Old Mill Road in Cambridge.
The Village of Blair has a tremendous history, dating back to the early 1800’s, and is the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe and Neutral Peoples. The area is an environmental sanctuary of protected heritage and conservation lands. The ecosystem is home to 24 different habitats and over 4,000 species of flora and fauna, with many ranked "significant" or "at risk" regionally, provincially, nationally, and globally. The people of the Village of Blair, in partnership with local environmental and charitable organizations, have worked with care and tireless energy to protect and preserve the sensitive environment of this historic area.
In 2002, the City of Cambridge designated Blair Village as a Heritage Conservation District. The Blair Village Heritage Conservation District Plan ensures that the community of Blair remains a village in character, form and function. The Plan also includes policies to:
-Protect the area from suburban development
-Protect and enhance the area’s natural environment
-Protect and enhance the area’s heritage features
-Promote the area’s village design
-Ensure new developments fit the village’s protected design
The new development is about to be greenlit by way of a Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO). A MZO is a ruling made by the Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister, allowing for land developers to expedite their development projects with no chance of appeal by municipalities, citizens or environmental groups.
Since the Fall of 2020, Minister Steve Clark (the current Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister) has issued over 33 new MZOs. Fourteen of the MZOs were issued in 2020 for residential and mixed commercial/residential projects, and another six were issued for industrial and commercial projects.
The new warehouse will have a minimum of 100 trucks coming and going daily (approximately 1 truck every 15 minutes) and 700-1,400 employees working out of the facility. As a result of the large increase in automotive traffic volume and frequency, the massive development is a significant threat to the surrounding habitats and wildlife. The development will inevitably give rise to a huge increase in light pollution and noise, thereby negatively impacting the natural environment as well as the flora and fauna in the surrounding area. As well, the development will create a disturbance to area residents and will place a strain on the existing local infrastructure.
Land development and job creation are both instrumental to the continued growth and success of our region. However, when the interests of the environment, citizens, and community stakeholders are prioritized without consultation, and due process is circumvented in order to expedite economic development, we cannot standby and allow such violations of democratic foundations. No matter what side of the Canadian political spectrum you are on, bypassing due process for corporate benefit goes against the democratic fabric of our society.
The use of an MZO in this case is an abuse of power and must be stopped. Furthermore, alternate sites and land are widely available in the area, with pre-existing infrastructure and mass opportunity for rezoning or repurposing existing buildings/space.
Take a stand with us. Help us rally support to counter the unjust decisions made and actions taken, as this goes against both our rights and our collective goal of protecting and preserving the environment.
r66s42> · Privacy policy
·