One of Southwestern Ontario's farming-heavy counties warns Ontario's move to make home-building easier outside built-up areas could cost it as much as 10 per cent of its farmland.
A largely rural Southwestern Ontario county is warning that Ontario’s move to make home-building easier outside built-up areas could pave over as much as 10 per cent of its farmland.
Changes proposed by Doug Ford’s government would clear the path for suburban sprawl and contribute to the loss of badly needed farmland in one of the richest parts of the province’s agriculture belt, Oxford County staff say in a new report going to politicians there.
“If approved, this policy would have a significant and irreversible impact on agricultural land and operations and the long term success and viability of agriculture in the county and the province as a whole,” the report said.
The new legislation would allow as many as three residential lots on any property in a prime agriculture area – something Oxford officials have flagged as “a major concern.”
Widely known as Canada’s dairy capital, Oxford has roughly 6,200 properties zoned for agricultural use. If each was subject to the new policy, staff estimate the county would have more than 18,000 additional residential lots.
Source : Ifpress