20.500.12592/6cmz21
RE: Review of proposed policies adapted from A Place to Grow and Provincial Policy Statement to form a new provincial planning policy instrument (ERO 019-6813) Overview
3 August 2023
Summary
We appreciate and support the provincial government’s commitment to maintaining the current Greenbelt Plan (2017) policies in the 2023 PPS and ensuring that the existing Greenbelt Plan standards and policy connections between the Greenbelt Plan, 2020 PPS, and A Place to Grow remain in effect. [...] That said, we would urge the government to ensure the policies outlined in the proposed provincial planning statement prioritize the utilization of existing settlement areas and the built environment through gentle densification while minimizing the disruption to critical, scarce, and sensitive lands. [...] Businesses require predictability and certainty on the availability of employment and industrial lands to make investments and plan for the long-term. [...] The current rate of loss is measured at 319 acres per day, according to the 2021 Census of Agriculture.2 To better adapt to climate change and ensure the security of our food systems, the final planning statement should include policies that help preserve critical farmlands and prime agricultural areas, and consider: o Redefining prime agricultural land to include Canada Land Inventory Class 1 to. [...] The document must acknowledge and support the implementation of the Duty to Consult and Accommodate, principles of free, prior, informed consent, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
