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County Council Reviews New Guidelines for Agricultural Land

Tuesday, 19 May 2015 at 05:57

With over 85% of Oxford County deemed prime agricultural land, county councillors paid close attention to new agricultural guidelines from the province

OXFORD COUNTY - County Councillors reviewed new guidelines implemented by the province at the latest council meeting that will affect the vicinity of residential areas to agriculture land. 

The new Draft Provincial Guidelines include permit use in prime agricultural areas as well as minimum distance separation formulae. Director of Planning for the County of Oxford, Gord Hough, breaks down the reasoning to create these guidelines. "The actual use guidelines - the province has a provincial policy statement and this guideline is an attempt to provide more detail, more guidance, and clarity as to how the province expects to see those policies implemented in the municipalities and the counties."      

With over 85% of Oxford County deemed prime agricultural land these guidelines will impact the largest part of Oxford.  Hough tells residents when they could see these new guidelines come into effect and the process that will be taken. "The province is looking to already have something in place by the fall. The policies of the province do have a great impact about farmland and the protection of farmland.  One of the things that we are looking to do is with respect to determining when it is appropriate to expand or move boundaries. We are always looking for those sorts of vacant land studies and growth projections. We use this data to determine whether or not it is appropriate to expand. Provincial policy helps us guide that."  

Council will be keeping a close eye on the progression, as it was received as information at the latest meeting. 

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