Meaford ratepayers who signed petitions opposing the Niagara Escarpment Commission’s plan to take control of about 21,000 hectares of land may have to wait another four months to learn the fate of their efforts.
The NEC’s deadline for receiving comments and petitions from the public was October 31.
The thousand-plus property owners who signed petitions had urged the Commission to extend the period for public comment by at least 12 months.
Town of Meaford spokesperson Hailey Thomson says council and other ratepayers are very concerned with the negative impact on Meaford’s economy should the Province approve the NEC’s land acquisition.
Meaford now covers 51,475 hectares of land not including the 4th Canadian Division Training Centre. Of this area, about 13,750 hectares (26%) are part of the Niagara Escarpment Plan and thus under the control of the NEC.
If the provincial government were to rule in favour of the NEC land acquisition, the Commission, not Meaford, would control two-third (67%) of lands in the Municipality of Meaford.
In his address to the Ontario Legislature on October 24, Bruce-Grey Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker stated that Meaford would lose more than $700,000 in tax revenue as a result of the land acquisition.
