The Concerned Residents Coalition (CRC) is holding its 5th community meeting about the “Hidden Quarry,” proposed by James Dick Construction Limited (JDCL). It will take place on Feb. 22 at 7pm at Rockmosa Community Centre at 74 Christie Street, Rockwood. The meeting will address the status of the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearings on the proposed Rockwood quarry in Guelph-Eramosa Township, and the role that the CRC will play at the hearings.
Among the subjects to be discussed and clarified will be the issues list prepared for the OMB by CRC; the OMB schedule and deadlines; and the OMB process of adjudication. The next OMB pre-hearing conference is scheduled for March 1.
The meeting will also launch Man-Made Thunder, the original song about the quarry by Wendi Hunter, performed by Blue Yonder, Rockwood’s own country/folk ensemble.
JDCL had applied to Guelph-Eramosa Township for approval to re-zone the proposed site (Highway 7 at 6th Line between Rockwood and Acton) from agricultural to industrial/extractive in 2013. The company had also applied to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry for a licence to mine aggregate.
CRC has studied the proposal and opposes the quarry.
In May 2015, JDCL referred both applications to the OMB. In November, at the OMB’s first pre-hearing conference, CRC was accepted as a party to the hearing. Other parties opposing the application include Guelph-Eramosa Township and the neighbouring Regional Municipality of Halton, which speaks for the Towns of Halton Hills and Milton within its jurisdiction. As a party, CRC will be represented by Chris Barnett, legal counsel with D.L. Piper. Bartlett has extensive experience at the OMB and successfully represented the Town of Caledon at the Rockfort Quarry OMB hearings. The Rockfort Quarry, proposed by JDCL, was turned down in 2010.
