Action urged on sound growth plan

Editorial Barrie Examiner February 23 2011

Who can blame the mayor of Oro-Medonte for voicing frustration over the slow implementation of the provincial plan for county growth?

Harry Hughes, perhaps echoing the concerns of other civic leaders in Simcoe County, is flummoxed that the Ontario government is leaving developers in limbo by not acting quickly enough.

Growth has been on hold since November 2008, Hughes said during a recent pre-budget consultation with Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop. That, in turn, is “bringing the whole economy of Simcoe County to an absolute halt,” he said.

Those are powerful words coming from a leader in the know, and the mayor of a municipality that’s known for carefully considering development proposals’ impact on the environment.

One has to give serious credence to Hughes’ assessment. He’s urging the Ontario government to pass the county’s growth plan so that builders can move forward with their projects.

For his part, Dunlop says that he’s spoken to those connected to the construction industry who have warned him the growth plan will result in job losses.

Obviously, the sooner the province can pass the plan, the better.

But the government’s blueprint for growth in Simcoe County and Ontario is far from a “disaster,” as Dunlop argues.

In fact, the province’s plan for growth has been well-considered. There was more than one round of consultations with myriad stakeholders.

The Liberal government has taken an ambitious and progressive step that its predecessors did not.

Faced with a tremendous influx in population over the next two decades, the province has endeavoured to curb urban sprawl, by corralling growth into built-up areas.

In doing so, the environment, most significantly, the impact of growth on Lake Simcoe, has to be top of mind. Would another party in power have paid it such attention or let growth run unchecked?

Ontario’s economy — indeed that of the world — is struggling to pull out of a terrible economic downturn.

To pin job loss and lack of growth on the province’s apparent hesitation over the county growth plan would be an overly simplistic argument.

But expecting expedience — what Hughes is urging–is not unreasonable.