Province of Ontario
The provincial government is rolling back boundary expansions that it ordered for the region of Halton and 11 other municipalities.
Paul Calandra, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, made the announcement in a statement released on Monday morning.
He said he is reviewing past ministry rulings, to ensure they were made in a way that "maintains and reinforces public trust."
"In reviewing how decisions were made regarding official plans, it is now clear that they failed to meet this test," said Calandra.
Calandra said the move is an attempt to reset the relationship with municipalities after finding that the boundary expansions featured "a little too much involvement from individuals in the previous minister’s office"
The decision is the latest U-turn for the Ford government, which was recently forced to reverse controversial plans to remove land from the Greenbelt after an investigation by the auditor general found the government’s process favoured certain developers.
In November 2022, the government ordered Halton to open up an additional 3,350 net hectares (or 33.5 square kilometres) of land for development.
Read more: https://oakvillenews.org/news/province-orders-halton-to-expand-urban-boundary/
That despite a vote by regional councillors to freeze the region’s urban boundaries and curb new greenfield development until at least 2041.
Calandra said he will introduce legislation to wind back provincial changes, “except in circumstance where construction has begun or where doing so would contravene existing provincial legislation and regulation.”
Most of the new development lands added to Halton were located south of Georgetown and outside of Milton. However, the provincial amendments did add 60 new hectares of urban land to Oakville, in an area north of Hwy 407, outside of the Greenbelt.
Among the lands greenlighted for development were the Oakville Executive Golf Club and ClubLink’s RattleSnake Point Golf Club on Hwy 25.
Calandra said that Halton and other impacted municipalities will see their original official plans reinstated, with 45 days to submit additional changes and updates as they may wish.
"In recognition of the costs incurred by municipalities arising out of this decision, the province will work with impacted municipalities to assist with related planning and staffing costs," he added.
