Centre Wellington Mayor Kelly Linton, CAO Andy Goldie and Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott recently travelled to Queen’s Park in Toronto to voice concerns to the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe and the Greenbelt Plan that was released in May of 2016.
Centre Wellington argued, “The proposed changes to the Growth Plan would increase the density target to 80 people and jobs per hectare. Our current target is 40 people and jobs per hectare. Our community and strategic plan stress our wish to maintain our ‘small town feel,’ which could be jeopardized by doubling the density that we have been planning for.”
The township opinion is that “the intensification target in the built-up area is proposed to increase from 40% to 60%. The current County of Wellington target is 20%, meaning the proposed change by the province would triple the required intensification levels. These targets would be extremely difficult to reach and would require a transformation in our built form. There would be an increased financial impact on the township for infrastructure, parkland, road and bridge improvements and parking along with a possible negative impact on stable residential neighbourhoods, heritage character neighbourhoods and on urban forest and tree protection.”
The township reached out in October 2016 to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs while they were seeking public feedback on the proposed Coordinated Land Use Planning review.
“The proposed land use changes will have significant impact on our small town character and infrastructure” stated Mayor Kelly Linton. “I encouraged Minister Mauro to take our concerns into thoughtful consideration when moving forward with changes to the Growth Plan.”
In early 2016, the township engaged Stantec Consulting Ltd. And Watson and Associates to undertake the preparation of a Growth Management Strategy (GMS) to understand the implications of growth pressures on the township and provide direction for future growth and infrastructure upgrading.
The intent is to reflect the character of the township and to ensure that the new growth and development is compatible with the vision and objectives for future development in the Centre Wellington.
