Walker Environmental Group Challenging Oxford County Official Plan

Thursday, 12 April 2018 at 13:57

"We have appealed these policies in the amendment to seek greater clarity on how those policies really coordinate with the over arching Provincial policy regarding Waste Management."

WOODSTOCK - Walker Environmental Group is taking Oxford County to the Ontario Municipal Board as it relates to the Official plan and the amendments regarding zero waste.

A 7 day hearing will start on Friday. Project Director with the Southwestern Landfill Environmental Assessment Darren Fry says they are seeking clarity on a few items.

"Good policy and planning is key to proactive and forward thinking communities, Walker participates in development of good planning and policy all the time. With the exception of only three specific policies of OPA 197, Walker supports the County's amendments to the official plan. We have appealed these policies in the amendment to seek greater clarity on how those policies really coordinate with the over arching Provincial policy regarding Waste Management."

Fry says there are elements of the amendment they don't think add up.

"There are elements of the amendment that we believe either duplicate or conflict with Provincial police or even the environmental assessment process, so what we are doing is we are seeking clarity around how those policies coordinate with the over arching Provincial policy."

Fry explains what Walker Environment hopes will come from the OMB hearing.

"We are seeking minor changes to the County's official plan amendment to provide a clear and coordinated process that will incorporate local planning approvals into the provincial process in an efficient manner."

President of the Oxford People Against Landfills Bryan Smith says he doesn't think Walker's argument carries much weight.

"To my mind this is Walker grasping at straws because they know the legislation that is already in place under the Waste Free Ontario act and all the regulations being rolled out are going to reduce the quantity of waste in the province dramatically. So in fact the kind of business they want to do with the Beachville Dump that they are proposing is the kind of business that is supposed to disappear fairly quickly. So this is sort of the last gasp of an old model. I've been known to say this is a 4000 year old way of dealing with garbage, their are records in the bible of garbage dumps around Jerusalem."

OPAL will be presenting during one of the days at the hearing.