Midhurst Secondary Plan: Growth fears aired

By Cheryl Browne, Barrie Examiner June 25, 2012

SPRINGWATER TWP. – A spirited group of angry residents demanded answers at the Springwater Township meeting Monday night.

Nearly 100 residents packed the small chambers of the town council meeting to hear deputations by two of their neighbours who are concerned about what they fear is unsustainable growth in their village of about 3,200 people. “This is the biggest deal Springwater will ever have to face. With all due respect, we’d like some answers,” said Dr. Paul Fleming, of Midhurst, after his chance to voice his concerns.

With shouts of ‘Yes, you should be accountable to us’ and ‘Let’s have some answers’ by the residents in attendance, Mayor Linda Collins reminded the crowd that she and council are representatives of the corporation of Springwater and as such are, “tied up (in) the legal process and we would be fools to give opinions on this right now,” Collins said.

Fleming’s population figures come from when he helped write the township’s original growth plan in 1996.

Those estimates showed an additional 6,500 residents over the next 35 years.

He said those numbers stayed pretty static in both the 2004 and 2008 population statistics for Springwater, however they jumped to nearly 30,000 new residents (by 2031) last November.

“The whole plan seems to be rushed,” Fleming told council. “When we looked at (the growth) in Snow Valley, it took years.”

Fleming is concerned that the township’s figures were rushed, with neither economic nor environmental impact assessments performed that might indicate new development in the area would cost taxpayers money in the long run.

He cites the province’s Places To Grow management plan as the blueprint and doesn’t feel the Springwater council is following that mandate.

The province is disputing the Midhurst Secondary Plan at an Ontario Municipal Board hearing expected to be scheduled for winter 2013.

The second speaker at the council meeting was Robert Wright, who has a 700-acre dairy and cash crop farm near the proposed new housing development. Wright said he was concerned that the only aquifer in that area lies at the edge of Russell and Story roads.

“Nine hundred acres of active farmland slopes towards that well,” said Wright.

“What kind of restrictions will be imposed on agriculture if this well is allowed to be the source of drinking water for 35,000 people?”

Wright is concerned that the plan offers up prime agriculture land instead of land that’s not being used or lesser non-agricultural areas.

He’s also worried his large farm machinery would soon be sharing roads with urban travelers.

“Farms and cities do not make good neighbours,” he said, adding, “The manure has to be spread. It doesn’t always produce an odour city dwellers appreciate.”

The mayor asked for questions from councillors and then finished off by telling Wright, “We totally respect your comments and will get back to you with our thoughtful answers.”