No support for Midhurst expansion from residents at Minesing meeting

By Kate Harries AWARE News Network April 7 2013

It was a 100-2 split at the Minesing meeting on the Midhurst mega-development on March 28.

On one side, the approximately 100 residents who turned out for an information session organized by the Midhurst Ratepayers Association on a council-approved 10-fold expansion of the village of 3.500.

Those present made it clear. They like Springwater the way it is. 

From the floor: 

“We don’t want it. Why are we doing it?”

“This is nonsense. I moved away from that stuff.”

“Can any one help me understand what the benefit is of bringing in all this development – except obviously the financial benefit to developers?”

On the other side: Mayor Linda Collins and Deputy Mayor Dan McLean. They were the only ones to defend the development that will lead to a massive transformation of Springwater Township (to their credit, they were there). 

Their answer to the question “Why?”

Collins: “It has been approved by a previous council. You can’t roll back that decision.”

It should be noted that Collins supported the Midhurst Secondary Plan when it was approved by Springwater in 2008, and spoke in favour of it when it was approved by Simcoe County in October, 2011. 

McLean: “We want to move forward very carefully.”  

The meeting had heard from Rob Wright, a state-of-the-art dairy farmer who pointed out that instead of building out from the existing village, the first phases leapfrog natural boundaries, to the arbitrary boundary of the “settlement area,” along Carson Rd. to the southwest, and coming in from Russell Rd. on the northeast side – where his farm is. 

He’ll have a hard time moving machinery around if projected commuter roads are built, and the fertility of this prime farmland is at stake if a plan to allow surface water run-off to seep into his fields goes ahead. 

“I don’t understand why they think we should accept this water,” Wright said. But when he raises the matter with officials, all he gets is a blank stare, or they tell him, “it’s not finalized yet” and walk away. 

Worst of all, he said, the groundwater to supply the new development is not to be drawn from under the Midhurst Secondary Plan area, but from sources further north. 

It makes no sense, said Wright, pointing to Barrie, five kilometres to the south, where the water and waste water infrastructure are in place. At the same time the United Nations is projecting a need for a 75 per cent increase in food production. The MSP will take 1,500 acres of Class 1-3 farmland out of production. 

The meeting also heard from:

-Gary Christie of the Nottawasaga Steelheaders, who detailed the threat posed by wastewater coming through Willow Creek and destroying the delicate mechanisms of the internationally recognized Minesing Wetlands, which supports a prized coldwater fishery and important sturgeon spawning grounds. 

-David Strachan, a Midhurst ratepayer who has of necessity become a planning expert. He pointed out how contrary the development is to the province’s smart growth policies – and how residents were blindsided by Simcoe County’s 2011 approval of the development, as Springwater Township did not call a public meeting until after the deadline for an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board had passed (the province filed an appeal, but withdrew part of it). As a result, the Midhurst Ratepayers Association is not an appellant for the OMB hearing that’s to be held on the MSP.

-Bill French, a Grenfel resident who’s studied the financial data from the township website and discovered a disturbing shortfall between how the township expects to finance infrastructure and what the developers expect to have to pay. That shortfall will get covered by increased taxes across Springwater, he said. 

As for the notion that a previous council decision can’t be rolled back, French urged residents to “get over this misconception (that) there’s nothing I can do.”

The land has not been rezoned, it’s still agricultural land, he pointed out. “With political will, it can be stopped.”

One woman who said she votes, but isn’t into politics, summed it up this way: “They’re hearing our voices but they’re saying it’s a done deal – Vote them all out!” Judging by the applause, there was support for the idea. 

The Midhurst Ratepayers Association plans to organize further meetings in other parts of Springwater.