It’s not every day I’m called a loser on welfare who doesn’t pay tax, and need an escort to my van, amid angry catcalls. But such are the theatrics of public meetings when land use issues are at stake.
Expect the fireworks to continue.
Halton Region is currently holding public consultations on its Sustainable Halton Growth Management Strategy — its “plan” to fit 780,000 people into the region in the next 20 years, almost double the current population.
The region has had four public consultations — in Burlington, Oakville and Halton Hills last week, and Milton a week earlier — with a public workshop this Thursday, and a vote on the strategy May 27.
I attended the Burlington meeting. The shouting started when I said the growth strategy included ever-shifting urban boundaries, which are certain to eat into prime agricultural land.
The shouting continued when I said it’s well known that development does not pay for itself. Development fees and the new property tax base don’t come near paying for all the things a thriving community needs — hospitals, schools and transportation networks, to name a few, which are already overcrowded, underfunded and struggling to serve the needs of Halton’s current population.
Thus, price and tax increases are inevitable, pricing seniors and young families out of our community.
The proposed plan will only lead to more sprawl and traffic and taxes, and isn’t nearly as stringent or comprehensive as it needs to be. This is not sustainable growth by any definition. And these results are entirely predictable.
The reaction of a few intemperate landowners in the room was also predictable — shouting insults because their land is protected (for now) and they can’t make a fortune subdividing and selling it to developers. At least they didn’t threaten to beat me up, as they did another resident who spoke out.
But all the drama, as unsettling as it was, isn’t what bothered me most about this meeting. Rather, I was struck by the futility of the entire exercise, which by its very design pits city dwellers like me against struggling farmers who want to unload their land and retire.
It doesn’t have to be like this.
What I heard was a lot of buck passing. The federal government is to blame, because they allow more immigration. The provincial government is to blame because under Places to Grow, they mandate where population growth should occur. Municipalities are to blame, because they approve developments.
But what about preserving farmland, so we don’t have to rely on imported food to feed our residents, I asked?
The federal and provincial governments should develop an agricultural policy on that, said Ho Wong, from the Region. We’re just planners.
What about protecting vulnerable residents from escalating prices and rising taxes? That’s social policy, said Wong. We just look at land use.
ALL POLICY AREAS AFFECTED
And herein lies the problem. Growth affects every area of public policy and cuts across government departments and levels. But each branch of government is setting policy independently. And the public can only comment on one issue at a time — in this case, do you want growth here or there — when any decision on growth affects all other policy areas.
I talked with planning consultant Brent Tegler, of North-South Environmental Inc., after the meeting and he said these collaborative conversations are going on behind the scenes.
“Never before would we have had developers and ecologists and social service people in the same room,” he said.
That’s encouraging, but doesn’t go far enough. I don’t fault Halton staff. They’re playing the hand they’ve been dealt as best they can. But we need strong leadership to bring all government branches — and the public and commercial stakeholders — together to hammer out a comprehensive strategy.
It is possible. Whistler, B.C. adopted this approach to craft the Whistler 2020 growth plan.
Otherwise, it’s entirely predictably that decorum in public meetings will be as scarce as farmland in 20 years. Though we may take baby steps in the right direction, we will have missed a terrific opportunity to bring our urban, rural and suburban residents, developers, business owners and policy makers together to build truly great — and sustainable — communities.
