Editor,
Your editorial (Growth Can be Painful, But it Helps to Understand the Process, March 7, 2024) is packed with information, and I encourage everyone to read it.
I am in favour of development in Meaford as long as it strictly conforms to the official plan. You write that, “…all applications must be accepted, and must be put through the established process as defined by the provincial Planning Act along with ensuring conformance to the county and municipal plans.”
However, it occurs to me that developments proposed by SkyDev and Avrance did not conform to the official plan, and yet were still allowed to move forward. In the end, both proposals were taken to the Ontario Land Tribunal and the developers won anyway.
It seems to me that, at critical junctures in the development process, we lack the power to control our own destiny. With TCE Pumped Storage too, people say we lack the power to control our own destiny. Do you think there is any way of managing the process that would give us more power? After all, shouldn’t we be the ones to decide what kind of town and municipality we live in?
Charlie Killin, Meaford
