Local Resident speaks out about highway 4.3

Below are exerpts from a letter send from local Halton Hills resident Peter Belshaw Ph. D. Chemistry/Biochemistry. The letter was sent to the GTA West Consultant Project Manager Neil Ahmed project_team@gta-west.com with a copy to the Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne kwynne.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org.

Building this highway extension through rural farmland and residential areas will have an enormous impact on the environment, far greater than what is claimed in the phase 1 environmental assessment. The proposed route of the highway will divide south Halton Hills creating a new southern boundary for the town, in the years to come, it is likely that every inch of land between the 401 and the proposed 4-3 extension will be developed commercial/industrial as a result of this new highway. In addition a band of commercial/industrial development would also occur to the immediate north of the 4-3 extension. The net result would be that all the farmland in rural Halton Hills would eventually be developed/paved. The environmental assessment in the draft report only appears to consider the direct impacts of the 4 lanes initially proposed, not the future development of the highway, nor the commercial/industrial development that is likely to follow. The increased vehicular traffic and future commercial/industrial development will also result in a significant lowering of air quality and an increase in noise pollution in the region. The proposed 4-3 extension would also result in the loss of some of the best farmland in Canada. Given that only 8% of Canada’s land is tillable (source: former MP Julian Reed of Halton Hills, citizens meeting open comment June 23rd, 2011 Glen Cairn Golf Course), we should not be paving/developing our best farmland. Given global warming and peak oil, we will need these resources when a few million climate refugees arrive on our doorstep in the foreseeable future (just look at the water wars already happening in the US southwest).

In my judgment (as a Ph.D. scientist Chemistry/Biochemistry), the environmental assessment in the draft report is a complete joke worthy of derision and jest were it not so frightening/impacting towards the south Halton Hills region.

Dr. Belshaw makes many other points in his letter regarding alternatives to the new highway which he has given me permission to share as I will continue to do in a future blog.
In the meantime, be sure to pick up a postcard and send it to Minister Wynne if you are also concerned that this proposed highway spells the end of your vision for Halton Hills. Postcards are available at the many locations around town, including the Civic Centre. Check out the town's website for locations http://www.haltonhills.ca/

Did Anyone Ask the Farmers?

This is a typical piece of southern Halton Hills where the province proposes to construct a new 400 series highway. This is exactly where option 4.3 will  go if it is approved.
At yesterday's Planning at Public Works Meeting at Halton Region where we discussed option 4.3, there was also a presentation by the Greater Toronto Area Agricultural Action Committee. I took the opportunity to ask their representative, Janet Horner, if the GTA West team had consulted with the GTA AAC. To my absolute astonishment, she said no. And then she emphasized the word NO!
Think about it. The GTA West corridor from Vaughn to Tremaine Road in Milton runs almost exclusively through farmland, most of it the very best farmland in Canada. The GTA West consulting team was charged with the responsibility of consulting with all affected parties. And they didn't ask the farmers! Of course the 300 residents who came out to the meeting on June 23rd at Glencairn Golf Course all felt that they had not been consulted either and they live in the path of the highway.
But really, not consulting with the farming community is so unacceptable it is beyond belief. It was only a couple of months ago that I attended a GTA AAC Farming Summit that was very well run and very well attended. It was sponsored by the Government and yet they same Government didn't consult with them.
If you read the EA report you will find a glib statement that in the design of the highway, impacts to agriculture will be mitigated. How do traffic engineers have any idea of what to mitigate if they didn't even talk to the farmers who will be affected?

Regional Councillors support Halton Hills Position on GTA West Highway 4.3

Halton Regional Staff Report responding to the GTA West Corridor recommendations was supportive of option 4.2 that brings the proposed 400 series highway north /south beside Heritage Road and then swings into Halton Hills to join the 407 - 401 Interchange. However, the report was ambivalent concerning the proposed additional leg of this highway known as alternative 4.3 that would run east/west somewhere between Georgetown and Steeles Avenue.
In my mind, this was not a time for ambivalence. In consultation with Mayor Bonnette and Regional Councillor Clark Somerville we wrote an amendment to the report that in my opinion was more in keeping with the Region's Official Plan and the newly endorsed Strategic Plan.
The Strategic Plan was crafted with the input of many Halton Residents particularly the Citizen's Refernce Panel. Input from a wide variety of sources confirmed more or less the the vision that was already articulated in the Official Plan.
To quote from the Amendment " the Strategic Plan says "the Region's vision is to preserve for the current and future generations a landscape that is rich, diverse, balanced, productive and sustainable and a society that is economically strong, equitable and caring. The Region must plan for communities where urban sprawl is minimized, where infrastructure is maximized, where natural heritage is protected and natural spaces and farmland are preserved. the overall goal is to enhance the quality of life for all people of Halton today and into the future".

"This vision will be very difficult if not impossible to maintain if alternative 4.3 is approved since the proposed route essentially bisects the agricultural area of halton Hills, thus fragmenting farms and making the industry much more difficult to sustain."

"There is a serious concern that alternative 4.3 will encourage urban sprawl. Measures to protect against urban sprawl were not articulated in the Draft Transportation Development strategy report."

"Alternative 4.3 which bisects the agricultural area south of Georgetown would pose an extremely serious blow to agricultural sustainability in Halton, would threaten the open-space character and landscape heritage of Halton and is therefore contrary to the goals in the official plan and Halton's vision for a sutainable future. For those reasons Halton cannot support alternative route 4.3."

All of the above was incorporated into the recommendation and was endorsed unanimously by the members of the Planning and Public Works Committee. The next hurdle is to have the recommendation endorsed at Regional Council next Wednesday morning.

Gaining unequivical support for the Halton Hills position from Regional Council is absolutely critical to our strategy to stop this highway and get it taken off the map. It is a great relief to have achieved unanimous support at the committee level as it means that we have support from all Halton local municipalities. It gives me confidence that we will also get a ringing endorsement at Council.

It is but one step in our fight against this highway, but it is an important one. I am very grateful to my Regional colleagues for their support today.