Friends of Simcoe Forests challenges Freele Tract MZO
Friends of Simcoe Forests file legal arguments challenging minister’s law exempting natural heritage provisions from the Freele Forest
Media release from Friends of Simcoe Forests
The Friends of Simcoe Forests Inc. (FSF) continues to press and question the use of the Freele County Forest to house a waste management facility.
FSF had retained three ecological experts who determined that the proposed site was a “significant woodland” and “significant wildlife habitat”. This means that the site is subject to the protection under the natural heritage provisions in the Growth Plan, a provincial plan.
All land use decisions, including those made by a Minister, council or an administrative body such as the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal must conform to the 2019 Growth Plan. However, after FSF filed the ecologists’ report with the Tribunal, the Minister passed a law exempting the proposed site from the natural heritage protections afforded by the Growth Plan.
On February 15, 2021, we will be filing our legal arguments in Court challenging the law passed by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The case will be argued on April 26 and 27, 2021.
Please visit our website for more information.
It greives me to see what is happening in Simcoe Cty, ever since the revised official plan, the planners feel thry can forge ahead with little or no respect for preserving the beautiful area we reside in. I trust you will re-think the decision & consider an industrial area.
I agree with you Lynn, the County needs to build the ERRC on industrial land and preserve our forests!