Halton Region is considering a bold plan that would declare even more of its land off limits to development. 6,000 hectares, now mostly covered by fields and woodlots, is what could be affected by this historic ruling set for December 16th. The plan is to protect Halton’s natural assets from urban sprawl by formally declaring the land a “natural heritage system.”
“To determine the scope of the system, planners began by identifying green features across the region worthy of preservation. Then they calculated how much additional buffer space would be needed to insulate these areas from harmful impacts. Finally, they attempted to connect as many of these zones as possible by using linked corridors. The end result is that about 36 per cent of the region’s developable, non-urban land would come under protection.”
Increasing property values is one of the side effects of this proposed system. Land is already priced at a premium and this restriction on developing land will only make that land more expensive to purchase.
Preserving Halton’s green space vs. Escalating property values. With housing prices at levels many feel are already unaffordable, can the region risk having them go much higher?
Submit your thoughts here sean.kavanagh@century21.ca and let me know which side of the fence you stand.
Sean Kavanagh
www.seankavanagh.ca
Source: The Toronto Star