Oakville Council pushes against urban boundary expansion in Halton Region

Wed, 19 Jan 2022

Voices concern over potential loss of prime agricultural land

At last night’s meeting, Oakville Council Members unanimously endorsed the criticisms in a staff report that raised concerns about expanding into prime agricultural land in Halton Region for future development. The town is instead supporting further intensification within existing urban areas available and designated for development.

The Region of Halton’s draft Preferred Growth Concept (PGC) is proposing a total settlement area boundary expansion of 2,120 hectares onto agricultural land in Milton and Halton Hills. Oakville Council is opposed to this and is supporting a greater emphasis on intensification within the existing urban areas across Halton Region.

The town’s staff report highlights that growth directed to strategic growth areas and higher order transit corridors will encourage transit-supportive, compact mixed use development, protect rural and agricultural lands, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet climate challenges.

At the January 18, 2022 Planning and Development Council meeting, Council heard from more than 14 delegations and received more than 100 written submissions from residents who were not in favour of the Region’s draft PGC.

Highlights

• The draft PGC is produced as part of the Regional Official Plan Review and is required by the Provincial Growth Plan. Simply put, it helps plan for the future of residents, housing, and employment in Halton Region for the period 2031 to 2051.
• Halton Region, including the Town of Oakville, is already planned to the year 2031 for a total of 768,000 people and 350,000 jobs. The current draft PGC is about planning to accommodate an additional 332,000 people and 150,000 jobs for the period from 2031 to 2051.
• The draft PGC is also proposing a region-wide minimum intensification target for new residential growth of 45 per cent. This is below the minimum 50 per cent required by the provincial Growth Plan.
• The draft PGC will be tabled at Regional Council on February 9, 2022. Oakville residents who wish to have their voices heard can send an email to the Regional Clerk at regionalclerk@halton.ca.

As part of last night’s meeting, Town Council directed staff to submit the Town Council’s motion to Halton Region as part of the Regional Official Plan Review and forward the motion and the staff report to the City of Burlington, the Town of Halton Hills, the Town of Milton, Credit Valley Conservation, Grand River Conservation Authority and Conservation Halton.

For more information, please review Town Council’s motion and the staff report.

Quote

“The town has been working collaboratively with our municipal partners and the community to plan for a sustainable Halton. Growth is coming and we have to prepare, but not at the cost of sacrificing prime agricultural lands when other options exist. I call on our colleagues at the Region to respect the need to work on the flaws in the land needs assessment and to save the farmland. The land use decisions we make now are irreversible and will affect our future generations.”

- Mayor Rob Burton