LSRCA staff want to leave the door open to wetland development

Despite repeated delays in developing the new Watershed Development Guidelinesthat will finally bring the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority’s rules in line with those of every other Conservation Authority in Central Ontario, the authority’s staff are now proposing a five week delay in actually enacting the new guidelines.

This delay is completely unnecessary given how long overdue these revised guidelines are and the pressing need to provide full protection for significant wetlands in the Lake Simcoe watershed.  On April 24th, the LSRCA Board will have an opportunity to make it clear that they are serious about watershed protection by ordering staff to immediately implement the new guidelines.

A five week delay could provide time for Metrus Developments to file an application for a Section 28 permit allowing it to proceed with its Maple Lake Estates project in the North Gwillimbury Forest.  Allowing such an application would be a black eye for our region by allowing an inappropriate development to be slipped through under outdated and illegal rules.  It would be far better for the LSRCA board to make it clear that the door is now firmly shut to development in provincially significant wetlands – just like it is in every other Central Ontario Conservation Authority region.

What you can do:

1. Please click here to send an email to the LSRCA board membersrequesting that they implement  the new Watershed Development Guidelines, effective April 24, 2015, to prohibit the building of subdivisions on provincially significant wetlands.
2. Please attend the LSRCA’s April 24th board meeting at 9 a.m. to support my oral deputation requesting the LSRCA to implement their newGuidelines effective immediately. (Click here for location.)
3. Please pass this message on to your friends.