“Premier Ford’s sudden determination to break an earlier promise to leave the permanently protected Greenbelt lands alone … is inexplicable!” – Gracia Janes, a Niagara citizen and a founding member of the Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society
A News Release from the Niagara-based Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society (PALS)
Posted November 23rd, 2022 on Niagara At Large
Gracia Janes, a Niagara resident and a founding member of The Preservation of Agricultural Lands Socieity
The Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society calls out Premier Ford for sudden provincial policy leap backward that will make protection of Niagara’s unique fruit land harder and harder, with the very possible “elimination of the viability of the Niagara fruit belt!” !
In a letter to the Premier (this November 21st) PALS President Doug Woodard warned that Bill 23 “More Homes Built Faster act 2022”, along with the planned “ Amendments to the Greenbelt Plan,” and the “Greenbelt Area Review”, pose a dire threat to the best farmlands in Canada,Niagara’s unique tender fruit and grape lands, and the farm industry which is a significant economic driver in Niagara.
According to PALS member, Gracia Janes, “Premier Ford’s sudden determination to break an earlier promise to leave the permanently protected Greenbelt lands alone, by including market-based sprawl into fruit lands in Grimsby, is inexplicable! The Grimsby lands were not needed nor requested by Grimsby or the Region, and therefore , not in the proposed 2022-2052 Niagara Regional Official Plan .
And in a detailed brief to Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO) today, PALS researcher Dr.John Bacher (PhD) warns that this Provincial government land-grab , without proper consultation and planning , breaks a close to 50 year effort by farmland preservation supporters , and will lead to even greater land speculation and bit by bit erosion of Niagara’s remaining fruit lands.
About the Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society – The extraordinary rate of urban sprawl over the best lands in Canada, the fruit lands of Niagara, led in 1976 to the formation of the Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society (PALS).
Backed by over 500 urban and rural members, PALS Board members and volunteers have worked hard to preserve the unique fruit lands and the agricultural industry in Niagara and to promote food land preservation province and country-wide.
PALS is based in Niagara, but has reached out over the years to help other farmland groups across Ontario and Canada to protect prime class 1-3 farmlands.
For more on PALS, click on – PRESERVATION OF AGRICULTURAL LANDS SOCIETY (becon.org)
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