Meaford residents will have an opportunity on June 16 to learn more and ask questions about the proposed Community Benefits Agreement bylaw. The bylaw is intended to provide a policy that will address development proposals which fall outside of the provincial Planning Act.
In early March, Meaford council approved a motion brought forward by Deputy Mayor Shirley Keaveney that directed staff to develop a bylaw aimed at establishing a framework for handling land use proposals that are not subject to provincial planning and approval processes. An example is TC Energy’s pumped storage proposal, which, while proposed to be located within the Municipality of Meaford, is in fact to be located on federally controlled land that is not subject to provincial planning approval processes.
After council’s approval of the Deputy Mayor’s motion, municipal staff began a public consultation process which included an open 30-day feedback period along with a presentation to the Pumped Storage Advisory Committee (PSAC) at their monthly meeting on April 10.
During the public consultation period staff received feedback that ranged “from positive constructive feedback to negative, and included technical corrections, concerns the amount of community benefits would be too low, recommended additional details are added to the by-law for clarity, concerns that the by-law creates unnecessary red tape, is too vague or complex and may not be enforceable,” municipal staff noted in a 24-page report presented to council at their May 26 meeting.
The next step will be the June 16 public meeting, which will be held in the opera house at Meaford Hall beginning at 6 p.m. “This meeting will provide a dedicated and accessible forum for the public to learn more about this important topic and to share their perspectives directly with staff and Council,” staff advised in their report.
The public meeting will include a presentation by municipal staff outlining the potential impact to the community, as well as a summary of the feedback received through engagement activities to date. Council was told that members of the public will have the opportunity to participate in person or virtually, and those who participate should expect their comments to be limited to no more than three minutes in order to ensure that all who desire can have their say.
While the bylaw is intended to apply to any future development proposals that fall outside of provincial planning processes, it was initiated as a result of the experience this municipality has had with TC Energy’s pumped storage proposal over the past five years, which, if it moves forward, will be located on federally controlled land that is not subject to provincial planning approval processes.
As I wrote back in March, it is certainly a challenge for council to explore and negotiate community benefits to come from a proposal that many residents strongly oppose.
No matter one’s views about members of council and any positions they might hold on local issues, it can’t be denied that the pumped storage issue, as massive and as controversial as it is, has put council in an unenviable position.
Which is one of the reasons why I feel that public participation is always so valuable, and the more that residents engage in the process, the better the end result will be.
Local residents are always right to be concerned with any major development proposal, particularly one that will cost multi-billions of dollars to construct over several years. The sheer magnitude of the pumped storage proposal is almost hard to imagine.
‘What’s in it for us?’ is a valid and necessary question for any community to ask when faced with a massive, out of the ordinary development proposal.
The issue is complex for many reasons, of course, not the least of which is that the project is proposed to be built on federal land, on our local military base, stripping council of much of its say and influence had the project been proposed for truly municipal land.
The deck seems to be becoming more and more stacked against municipalities in recent years, thanks largely to ever-changing legislation at the provincial level.
Personally, I feel that municipalities should seek as much advantage as possible when it comes to out of the ordinary development proposals, and real benefits for the greater community should be a priority. But more important than benefits is protecting the community and its residents. Protecting a community might be the greatest benefit of all, so it is important that the municipality develop this policy not just for addressing the pumped storage proposal, but for any outside of the box proposal we might see in the future.
I hope that many residents will turn out for the June 16 public meeting, and I know that our residents will have valuable insights to share as part of this process.
“This Public Meeting provides an opportunity for the public to make comment and ask questions relating specifically to the draft Community Benefits By-law. Staff will record all comments and submission and will report back to Council at a future meeting of Committee of the Whole where Council at that time will consider their options and make a decision on how they wish to proceed,” said Shawn Everitt, Chief Administrative Officer, in a media release issued last week.
I encourage everyone who is interested in this proposed bylaw to engage in the process, to attend the June 16 public meeting, and to share your thoughts and ideas, and to express your concerns. As I mentioned earlier, the more residents engage in these sorts of processes, the better the eventual outcome will be.
As the municipality noted in their media release announcing the public meeting, “The feedback collected will play an important role in finalizing the by-law, ensuring that it supports balanced growth and meaningful benefits for the community.” So get involved, ask questions, offer ideas, and be part of the process.
For more information about the proposed bylaw as well as all reports and updates, visit meaford.ca/CBA
