Acton Quarry Part 2

This is a story of 2 quarries. The top picture is of  the Dufferin Quarry on the 22nd Side Road south of Acton Ontario. The second picture is of a rehabilitated quarry on Vancouver Island. You may recognize it as Butchard Gardens, one of the top tourist attractions in British Columbia. It was one woman's vision and hard work that made this transformation possible.

This is a follow up to my blog from last week. The Town needs to decide if it would like to own the worked out Acton quarry or we would like to give it a pass. To me it is question of vision.

The current rehabilitation plan has a lake on the north side of 22nd side road and a dry bowl on the south side. Dufferin has submitted a plan for expanding the quarry as the existing licensed area will be worked out in 6 or 7 years. If granted, the new expansion areas will ultimately lead to further rehabilitation options.

There are 2 scenarios at play. In scenario 1, Dufferin does not proceed with the expansion and the existing worked out quarry is available to the Town. In this case the Town would take over the lands presumably on the basis that Dufferin has provided funding to cover the cost of the continuous pumping required to keep the dry bowl from flooding, or there has been an agreement with the province that would allow the dry bowl to flood, thus creating 2 additional lakes. The Town would then be on its own to create whatever recreational or environmental situation that it wanted.

In Scenario 2, Dufferin proceeds with its expansion. Dufferin would then be in a position to work in partnership with the Town to develop both the existing and the expanded sites into a much more substantial environmental and recreational preserve.

The land  in scenario 2 encompasses over 1400 acres and is 1.5 times the size of Kelso. This would entail a long term plan whereby the ultimate rehabilitation would happen in the extension areas only after they have been mined out. This could be 40 years into the future. The decision we are making today will potentially have a tremendous impact for future generations.

It is my opinion that this is truly a great opportunity for the Town of Halton Hills. We are a municipalitiy that is three quarters Green Belt. We need to be thinking about what we are going to do with it to turn it to our advantage. This quarry opportunity is one that would allow us to provide an environmental preserve that could easily have trails for different types of trail users including hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders. It could have a BMX course in the old quarry. The lake could host a rowing club. The cliffs could provide a rock climbing venue. It could be hub for Bruce Trail users and the many cycling clubs that ride through Halton Hills. And yes, it could even be home to a spectacular garden.

In addition it would provide very important water security for our Town. The lakes would in fact be reservoirs that would be available for use should we suffer through a period of drought.

The job of our Town staff is to examine the issue thoroughly and provide council with the pros and cons of such an undertaking. There are always risks. However, I have only to think back to the last time our Town had the opportunity to acquire a piece of property for a dollar. It was the abandoned rail line from Georgetown to Palgrave. The Council of the day thought that it would be a headache. There would be liability issues that they were not prepared to accept. So now the wonderful rail trail goes from Palgrave to Terra Cotta where it abruptly stops.

I haven't seen the staff report yet so I have not seen the list of reasons why we shouldn't acquire the quarry but clearly I am leaning towards acquisiton.

What do you think? What uses would you like to see in the quarry and what uses would you really not like to see?