Midhurst residential development a threat to prime farmland, critics say

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Farmers, ag organizations, local politicians and even Margaret Atwood are united in opposition to residential sprawl that will consume some of the best agricultural land in the province

by MIKE BEAUDIN

Rob Wright is worried a major development that will allow hundreds of homes to sprout up around his 800-acre dairy operation will spell the end of his second-generation farm.

Wright's farm borders a section of land in Simcoe County where a new city will be built on prime farmland unless he and a number of other groups can persuade the provincial government to put a stop it.

The development is known as the Midhurst Secondary Plan and the first phase would see Midhurst, a village of 3,000 people on Barrie's northern boundary, grow into a sprawling residential community of 18,000.

Construction could get underway in the spring pending environmental approvals. The only recourse left for those trying to stop it is to appeal directly to Premier Kathleen Wynne.

Wright isn't alone in his fight. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Simcoe County Federation of Agriculture, the newly elected mayor of Springwater Township, the Council of Canadians, Midhurst Ratepayers Association, AWARE Simcoe, and even author Margaret Atwood oppose the development. They say it will wipe out hundreds of acres of prime farmland, create environmental problems and restrict farm usage.

"Farms and cities don't make good neighbours," says Wright, who took over a farm started by his father in 1954. He says commuter roads that will divide the land would leave his farm and others nearby economically non-viable.

The broader issue is the loss of prime farmland. "The more land we take out of active food production, the more the impact on our economy in Ontario," says Anne Ritchie Nahuis, Simcoe County Federation of Agriculture executive director.

Ritchie Nahuis says that at the heart of the conflict is a "special rule" created by the province in 2012 that effectively allowed developers to get around Ontario's Greenbelt and Places to Grow planning policies put in place in 2005 and 2006 respectively to stop urban sprawl on farmland.

Initially, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing argued the proposed development violated the province's growth plans for the area, but it later added a special rule allowing development on 300 hectares (about 741 acres).

Ritchie Nahuis says the decision flies in the face of the province's planning policies.

"The Greenbelt has not protected farmland in Ontario; it has just pushed the growth to other areas where developers can make more money. Simcoe County wants to locate a city outside the perimeter of the City of Barrie on the best farmland Class 1, 2 and 3 without assessment from the Ontario agriculture ministry or agricultural planners," she says.

However, the Midhurst Landowners Group, representing developers, say the area has been designated for growth since 1983. They say the township, the county, the Ontario Municipal Board and the province have approved the plan which will be phased in over 12 to 20 years.  

The group says the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) ruling has forced them to meet conditions "more onerous than one would typically see."

Ritchie Nahuis says the OMB leans heavily toward developers because they can afford the cost of experts and planners to represent them. She says farm groups can't afford an OMB challenge.

The development was also the central issue in October's municipal election in Springwater Township. A slate of candidates who oppose the development were voted in and members of the previous council who had approved the plan were voted out. Newly elected Mayor Bill French says previous councils rushed approvals without fully considering the agricultural and environmental impacts.

Among the environmental concerns is the location of the development's water supply that would be at the bottom of a slope below acres of farmland. Wright fears he and other farmers with property above the wellhead will face serious restrictions on what they can produce because of possible runoff into the water supply.

"There is no way farmers would be allowed to put a large barn or cattle operation on this property, so you have restricted the value of that farm for future generations," says French. "Agriculture use should take priority and shouldn't be restricted by development around it."

French says that, if the Midhurst plan proceeds, it will just open the door for more developers to find a way around the province's growth policies.

Ritchie Nahuis is no stranger when it comes to battling politicians over losing farmland to development. She was a key player in a civil disobedience protest in 2009 over Site 41, a landfill site that farmers and First Nations people feared would have a dire environmental impact on an underground water aquifer as well as neighbouring farms.

When heavy machinery started preparation work on the site, Ritchie Nahuis joined a group of First Nations protesters who set up a camp across the road. After an outcry of public support, county politicians reversed the landfill approvals. BF