Oxford Environmental Action Committee Responds to Bill 23

Friday, 30 December 2022 10:44

By Brad Kraemer

The More Homes Built Faster act was passed just over one month ago.

OXFORD - The Oxford Environmental Action Committee (OEAC) has voiced their displeasure with Bill 23.

The More Homes Built Faster act was passed just over one month ago, but one of the members of the committee Bryan Smith remembers his initial reaction.

"It was an exercise in very poor planning. Planning of the style that would actually cost communities down the road, and hobble their abilities to do wise planning, locally and municipally, and their ability to keep the services in place that people expect of their communities."

Smith also says the OEAC has a significant concern about where food is going to come from if too much farmland is paved over. An excess of paving can also lead to weather risks.

"In Oxford County the land is made up of mixed soils, rock and gravel that allows water to infiltrate and fill our water table. When you pave that and put hard surfaces on it, you get two things, you get a future that will include water shortages, and a near future, that increases the risks of flood. Every time it rains, you have the rain hitting hard places and finds its way overland, and then sometimes finds its way through your neighbor's house."

Many representatives with the OEAC as well as Transition to Less Waste are telling the province that Bill 23 needs to be changed or even repealed entirely. A report with research and projections authored by Suzanne Collins makes the argument for gentle intensification, walkable cities, and complete communities. Smith admired Collins' work and added that her report will be used in their response to the province.

"The first significant action that the committee has taken is this report where they're urging the town of Ingersoll to adopt planning standards that would do all the good things that Bill 23 doesn't encourage."

The OEAC is a non-profit organization that promotes responsible and environmentally sustainable land use planning, use of the precautionary principle in decision making, the safeguarding of Ontario’s environment, and the protection of public health and wellbeing.