Good for Hamilton...unfortunately here in Durham and Oshawa, I've found elected members who although they have voted on planning decisions involving areas both inside and outside the urban boundary...THEY DON'T ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT THEIR MUNICIPALITIY'S URBAN BOUNDARY IS!!..and no it's not the downtown! It really hit me how uncurious or uninvolved some can be to basically have the default position to just going along with staff recommendations. How can your constituents and colleagues be confident that the best future planning decisions are being made when there is a failure to ask questions and dig deeper.
With the Region's upcoming Envision Durham planning for the next Official Plan Land Needs Assessment coming in 2022, I sincerely hope that some wake up and don't do the same urban boundary breaches that happened in 2013 when the Region and local municipal councils (save for Ajax) were committed to urban sprawl and ROPA 128 was approved. I hope every Mayor and Councillor elected member in Durham Region pays attention to what Hamilton has taken the lead on.
As one newspaper reporter wrote, Hamilton has done the unexpected. I say it's about time. The public viewpoint for a long time had been how difficult the battle is to counter developers' push due to their influence!
Some studying the influence have found that strong public grassroots engagement is the best way to help shape the process and outcomes. (The impact of stakeholder engagement on local policy decision making) In fact, public engagement may be the only way to tackle the challenges and contest planning decisions that show an unbalanced bias Mayors, councillors and staff have for some developers.
https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/2021/11/19/council-rejects-hamilton-urban-expansion.html?fbclid=IwAR3UT_csA1OkENyT3Hnow49toIfM8Ix3pWB5x8Xcj-3i9GbQ17xIGvctfGk
Also, the editorial below, on the same topic, is an excellent read. I find what it says to be very true when it comes to Land Needs Assessment and the growth numbers. You would think some people have a crystal ball. They don't. Time and time again in Durham Region the estimates have been way off. This editorial says it very well indeed:
With the Region's upcoming Envision Durham planning for the next Official Plan Land Needs Assessment coming in 2022, I sincerely hope that some wake up and don't do the same urban boundary breaches that happened in 2013 when the Region and local municipal councils (save for Ajax) were committed to urban sprawl and ROPA 128 was approved. I hope every Mayor and Councillor elected member in Durham Region pays attention to what Hamilton has taken the lead on.
As one newspaper reporter wrote, Hamilton has done the unexpected. I say it's about time. The public viewpoint for a long time had been how difficult the battle is to counter developers' push due to their influence!
Some studying the influence have found that strong public grassroots engagement is the best way to help shape the process and outcomes. (The impact of stakeholder engagement on local policy decision making) In fact, public engagement may be the only way to tackle the challenges and contest planning decisions that show an unbalanced bias Mayors, councillors and staff have for some developers.
https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/2021/11/19/council-rejects-hamilton-urban-expansion.html?fbclid=IwAR3UT_csA1OkENyT3Hnow49toIfM8Ix3pWB5x8Xcj-3i9GbQ17xIGvctfGk
Also, the editorial below, on the same topic, is an excellent read. I find what it says to be very true when it comes to Land Needs Assessment and the growth numbers. You would think some people have a crystal ball. They don't. Time and time again in Durham Region the estimates have been way off. This editorial says it very well indeed:
- "But those estimates are often inaccurate, and not just from this government. A host of factors can influence growth in the interim, and it makes sense to hold a flexible position to accommodate growth when projections are more reliable. And, given this government’s cosy relationship with developers, less politically motivated."
