Greenlands Centre Wellington Community Visions Workshop

Opening Remarks
Deryk Smith

Let me begin by welcoming all of you to this our first “Greenlands” workshop. Thank you for coming.

My name is Deryk Smith.  I am the chairperson of a citizens’ organization calling itself Greenlands Centre Wellington (GCW) dedicated to the development and implementation of a greenlands strategy for the Township of Centre Wellington.

We define greenlands as a system of natural areas and open spaces for citizens’ use and enjoyment and for the protection of ecological values.

In the next 10 minutes or so I am going to attempt to give you a sense of what we are about and why.

• In 2002, a growth study commissioned by the municipality projected a population increase of between 20% and 25% by the year 2020.
• As a result of the Greenbelt Act, passed in 2005, we anticipate a “leap frog” effect, that is; the developer who can’t now target lands in the greenbelt zone will “hop over” and land on, among other places, Wellington County.
• We can therefore expect a greater increase in the rate of growth than earlier projected.
• Furthermore, the Places To Grow Act, also passed in 2005, has targeted Wellington County and the Regional Municipality of Waterloo as “growth areas”.
• Here in Centre Wellington, with a few exceptions, virtually all of what is now farmland between Elora and Fergus, bounded on the south by county road #18, on the north by Salem Sideroad, on the east by Beattie Line and on the west by Irvine Street, is owned by developers.
• Furthermore, the former municipalities of Elora and Fergus have been joined by the ubiquitous ‘pipe’, that is to say the sewer pipe and water pipe.  This occurred at the time the new Wellington Terrace facility was being constructed.
• This means that all lands proximate to the pipes are now developable.
• The Places To Grow Act requires that 40% of future development occur within existing urban boundaries.  This will result in densification in those areas, which is good.  But that leaves 60% for new sprawl in the area between Elora and Fergus just described, among others.
• How is the township preparing itself to manage this growth?
• Are we going to experience more of the same according to the model of the past 30 years - that is - row on row of single detached residential dwellings on individual lots, one 100 acre farm after the other?
• If we are to alter this pattern, we are going to have to somehow require principles of “smart growth” to be incorporated in any future plan.

From: Smart Growth Network  www.smartgrowth.org

• Historically, in planning matters, the public is invited to participate at the end of a long process by which time a lot of time, energy and money have been already invested by the municipality and the developer.
• What effectively, one might ask, can be done at this late stage?
• The answer, of course, is nothing.
• We want therefore to insert ourselves in that process at the beginning, at the point when the natural features of the property can be examined, before any proposal is made or alteration of the landscape undertaken. Consider the following examples:
• We want to be able to have the opportunity to argue that the “drainage ditch” which is proposed to be either channelized or piped and covered over, be considered as a stream which could be enhanced, vegetated, with a trailway alongside, one that connects with other parts of the community making this waterway a feature to be celebrated rather than something to be obliterated.
• The patch of trees, while not 10 hectares in area to qualify as a “core greenland feature”, worthy of protection under the municipal official plan, is significant because it could become, if enhanced and buffered appropriately, a patch that could be linked with a more significant woodlot on property adjoining.
• The small wetland, while not provincially significant, could be incorporated into a naturalized storm water retention facility instead of being filled.
• The identified water recharge area would, more appropriately, be the site of an open space facility to encourage passive or active recreation pursuits, rather than being covered over with hard surfaces (buildings, driveways, roadways, etc.) That would adversely affect the water recharge function.
• The four land examples I have just referred to can be found on the Sorbara property, the 250 acre parcel of land at the northwest corner of Colborne Street and Beattie Line.
• This land was the subject of a project undertaken by second year students in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development at the University of Guelph.
• The students were given certain parameters, one of which was that the project had to include a minimum of 1,000 residential units.
• Some wonderful examples of the students’ work conceptualizing how development might occur on the property are exhibited here today.
• All this was initiated by Bronwynne Wilton herself a PhD student in the same faculty and a member of our group.
• We thank Bronwynne, the students and professor Cecilia Payne for making all this happen.
• How do we effectively direct attention to the kinds of possibilities as conceived by these students?
• We see that it will first be necessary to inventory the natural features throughout the township, sub-watershed by sub-watershed, to evaluate them and to input this information to the geographic information system database of the township.  We know that much of this information is already available through the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), Ministry of the Environment (MOE), and the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) and in fact, much is already in the database at the township.
• But there are gaps to be filled; there are evaluations to be done.  This kind of work we see being undertaken by appropriately qualified university students.
• We need therefore to raise money to pay these persons to assure the work gets done.
• We intend to make application to certain foundations for this purpose.
• With this information in place, we can begin to imagine how a “system of greenlands” could be identified and designed, one which would go well beyond an individual property which is the subject of a particular development proposal, so that there would be a logic, ecologically, aesthetically and recreationally.
• The system of greenlands would link natural areas and open spaces in a way which would make the component parts ecologically sustainable while at the same time providing linkages for human purposes:  to allow movement on foot or by bicycle from one neighborhood to the next, from home to school, to work, to the corner store.
• We are proposing ultimately to develop a greenlands master plan, one that could be implemented segment by segment as each of the parcels to be developed comes on stream and/or by the municipality, year by year over say a 20 year period.
• One might ask, is all this necessary? Greenlands Centre Wellington believes that if we want to live, work and recreate in a community which is livable, we really have no other choice but to develop such a strategy.
• The record is clear that the mental, emotional and physical health benefits arising from such planning are there.
• For the ‘bottom line’ person, the evidence shows clearly that the financial costs to our society of pursuing unsustainable plans will be significant.   If we fail to plan based on the principles of “Smart Growth” we will all pay.
• I believe we have arrived at a very critical point in the development of this community.  We have to get the next 30 years right.  This is not, therefore, an academic exercise.  Rather, it is very much a real world exercise.
• But 18 +/- people alone cannot do all this.
• We need to engage the community and that is the reason we have asked you to attend today.  From the very beginning, we contemplated the notion of a series of “conversations with the community”.  We hope that you will consider this, the first in a series of conversations, to be meaningful and that you will return for the next one.
• We need your input, your ideas and your support.  For your information, we meet as a group typically the last Wednesday of each month at 7:00 pm in the Municipal Offices, Veterans Hall, Elora.  Anyone interested is welcome to come and be a part of the undertaking.
• For a more articulate and eloquent statement of what we are about, I invite you to visit our website at www.greenlandscw.org.  Robbie Keith is the author of that document and I now call upon him to introduce to you our special guest speaker.

Thank you.

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