Council pauses decision on plans for new community in northeast Pickering

Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation’s concerns

The 1,763 hectares of land in question is generally bounded by Eighth Concession Road to the north, Lake Ridge Road to the east, Highway 7 to the south and Westney Road to the west.

MSIFN Chief Kelly LaRocca sent a letter to council on March 25, reminding them the lands in the secondary plan are within the First Nation’s traditional and treaty territory.

LaRocca said the First Nation has continuously stated its concerns with the plans to develop the land and indicated a lack of sufficient consultation with the MSIFN.

She also shared concerns that the natural environment studies undertaken in support of the secondary plan “have failed to properly consider the potential cumulative impacts development may have on the headwaters, uplands and ecological systems, water quality and fish habitat, thereby impacting MSIFN’s rights, including, but not limited to the right to harvest fish, medicines and food, the right to all creeks, rivers and lakes and surrounding area, the right to hunt including deer and waterfowl, the right to control and protect traditional lands and resources and the right to conservation.”

Farmland concerns

Other concerns from delegates at the meeting included paving over top-quality farmland, potential flood risks and higher taxes resulting from the infrastructure required to support a large, new community.

Adrian Stocking, president of the National Farmers Union Local 345, said advancing this proposal before completing required studies and planning measures is inconsistent with Ontario’s Planning Act, the Provincial Policy Statement and Durham Region’s official plan.

Stocking said the land consists of Class 1 soil, which is “the highest quality farmland in the country.”

In the Planning Act, prime agricultural lands may only be converted where no reasonable alternatives exist, he said.

He noted the plan preferred by Durham Region staff shows housing targets can be met through intensification and the buildout of Seaton and a thorough evaluation of alternative expansion areas that avoid Prime 1 farmlands is necessary.

He said destroying farmland would basically create a population without a means to feed itself and protecting this soil should be “of the highest importance” to council.

Staff comments

Kyle Bentley, director of city development and chief building officer, said for a plan of this scale, it’s typical for studies to be completed over the course of many years to comprehensively capture the study area’s future needs. As part of the technical background work, 13 studies were completed and one, the scoped watershed study, is ongoing and moving onto the next phase, he said.

The staff report noted that since the province approved development on the land and deemed it a “2051 Urban Expansion Area,” if the city did not put forward a secondary plan, the Pickering Landowners Group, which owns more than half of the land, could put forward its own secondary plan as an amendment to the city’s official plan, and the city would have to process it.

Ashe said he will contact LaRocca with a goal to meet as soon as possible.

Council pauses decision on plans for new community in northeast Pickering