KENILWORTH – Local agencies want more information about a proposed outdoor learning program outside of Arthur before they can take a firm stance on a rezoning application.
Jim Phillips, who owns Copernicus Educational Products on Wellington Road 109, wants to rezone an adjacent 91-acre property to permit agriculture-related outdoor education programming.
Copernicus liaison and self-described nature school practitioner Melissa Kooiman spoke to council on May 6 about what’s envisioned.
Children would be exposed to agriculture and nature, including: working the soil, seeding, growing and harvesting plants
A market garden with a 2,100-square-foot greenhouse for vegetables is proposed, and 28 acres of land could be used for agriculture, according to plans.
The program would accommodate six children, and operate one day per week during school seasons, and in week-long blocks during summertime.
Last summer, Copernicus ran a five-week pilot with 40 children that Kooiman said illustrated a “proven demand” and a “significant need” for extra curricular alternatives.
Having worked as an early childhood educator with the Upper Grand District School Board for nearly a decade, Kooiman said she has “personally witnessed the benefits to outdoor education.”
Programming would be directed at children aged four to 12 who “have been othered in the public education system; who maybe learn differently,” Kooiman said.
“There is space for them to move their bodies, to yell, to run, where it’s not frowned upon,” she added.
Children would be encouraged to climb and move around while learning about nature and developing skills.
Phillips told council the property has been in the family since 1974, and said it’s always been “a bit of dream” to offer the land as a cost-free educational resource.
However Wellington County’s roads department wants to see a traffic study first, and comments from the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) – an agency that comments on such applications –indicate the potential rezoning is immersed in safety concerns.
In a letter submitted to the township regarding the proposed rezoning, the GRCA said Phillips will need to “demonstrate that safe access is available” during a flood.
According to the conservation authority, the frontage of Phillips’ property falls within a Conestogo River floodplain.
“Safe access does not appear available,” GRCA comments state. Without it, there will be no support from the conservation authority.
Council heard Phillips is working to get the studies to respond to those comments.
Council will consider whether to approve or deny rezoning the land at a future meeting.
