Staff
Coming out of the special meeting of Council held at Woodford Hall on Tuesday October 11, the Municipality of Meaford has established a petition to oppose the Niagara Escarpment Commission’s (NEC) proposal to expand the Niagara Escarpment Plan.
The petition states that those who have signed oppose the expansion of the Niagara Escarpment Plan in the Municipality of Meaford, and support the Municipality’s request to extend the commenting period deadline from October 31, 2016 by a minimum of 12 months.
“With the overwhelming response we’ve seen from our residents, we’re hoping we can get lots of signatures for this petition,” said Mayor Barb Clumpus. “We’ve been hearing the same concerns – that the added restrictions are not necessary, and that there was not enough public information or opportunity for feedback.”
The NEC has made a proposal recommending an additional 32,559 hectares of land in Grey County be added to the Niagara Escarpment Plan. About 2/3 of this proposal (21,323 hectares) is located in the Municipality of Meaford.
Additional lands in Georgian Bluffs (4,279 hectares), Town of the Blue Mountains (4,464 hectares) and Grey Highlands (2,358 hectares) have also been proposed. The NEC would also like to change existing land use designations in some areas. However, the NEC has not yet clarified what the land use designations will be for the newly added lands.
The petition will close on October 29, 2016 in order to be submitted to the NEC by the October 31st deadline.
For more information and to sign the petition, visit www.meaford.ca/NEP.
Hard copies of the petition will be available to sign at the Administrative Office (21 Trowbridge), the Sydenham Centre (Open Thursdays 8:30-4:30), and Meaford Public Library.
The NEC set a deadline for public comments of October 31, 2016.
