U-turn on farmland severances welcomed

Peterborough County politicians are applauding the provincial government’s decision to halt its plans to allow housing on prime farmland in Ontario after the proposal sparked criticism from farm groups and elected officials.

“I think that the decision to backtrack from allowing an abundance of farm severances is an important and welcome change from the Provincial government,” Matthew Graham, mayor of Cavan Monaghan Township, told The Examiner.

Under Premier Doug Ford’s proposed provincial planning statement, the plan would have allowed farmers to sever three lots of their property to make way for home-building — part of a bid to add 1.5 million homes to the province by 2031.

On April 6, the Ontario government released the provincewide land use planning policy document to achieve its housing objectives. The new statement would integrate existing policies from the current statement and from A Place to Grow, the province’s 2006 plan for growth and development in the Greater Golden Horseshoe area.

The proposal garnered backlash from a host of farm groups, including the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and the National Farmers Union, along with dairy and beef farmers across the province who likened the move to an attack on agriculture.

Noting the scarcity of farmland in Ontario, the groups said severances threatened the sustainability of valuable land, adding that the policy would stunt growth and lead to conflicts between agricultural and residential land use. In Peterborough County, elected representatives also spoke out against the provincial government’s plan.

At a May 17 meeting, Peterborough County staff and council members voiced their concerns.

In a report to council, Bryan Weir, senior director of public works and planning for the county, expressed worry about allowing residential lots to be created on current agricultural land. Under the now-nixed rules, there could be six or seven parcels of land attached to a farm operation with three lots allowed on each, he said.

The “prioritizing housing above all other matters of provincial interest,” Weir said the plan stood to undo years of work that has protected some of the most valuable areas. By impacting decades of worth of planning, Weir said the plan also threatened to lead to scattered development and inefficient land use patterns for waste collection while impacting local food security.

County council opted to send a response to the province detailing concerns surrounding the loss of farmland and the potential impact on agricultural and natural heritage policies.

Peterborough County Warden Bonnie Clark also welcomed the move.

“I hope that there will be further consultation to facilitate the balance between the need to build homes and the need to preserve prime farmland for food production. Municipalities know their lands very well and there are lots in Peterborough County zoned for agriculture that are not productive and could be considered for residential land use to meet the needs of our growing provincial population.”

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has been consulting on the proposed policies seeking input from municipalities and other groups.