FUN ADVOCACY POSITIONS

According to the government, the “proposed changes address implementation challenges with the Plan that were identified by the municipal and development sectors and other stakeholders” and “are intended to provide greater flexibility and address barriers to building homes, creating jobs, attracting investments and putting in place the right infrastructure while protecting the environment.” We note for the record that FoNTRA, as one of the most significant stakeholder organization in the Province representing the interests of residents, had not been consulted.

Less than one year into its operation, the Province has announced that the Local Planning Appeal Support Centre (LPASC) is being shut.

LPASC was launched in April 2018 to help people understand and navigate the land use planning and appeal process in Ontario. The LPASC Act, 2017 mandated the establishment and administration of a cost-effective and efficient system for providing support services, and to establish criteria for determining the eligibility of persons to receive the support. The LPASC has until June 30, 2019 to wind down the business. Effective immediately, LPASC will no longer be accepting new requests for professional services from the public.

The Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods (Ontario) has sent the following letter to the Ontario Government protesting this action.

The Federation of Urban Neighborhoods strongly supports the expansion of the Greenbelt in the Outer Ring of the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH).

We also welcome the provincially led process underway to define the study area, and its focus to preserve important water features under pressure from urban development. We further hope that the ministry considers designating other watersheds not in the study area for similar protection.

The Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods Ontario (FUN) includes residents’ associations in several urban communities in the GGH, who are aware of the importance, and sensitivity of the ecological assets of the region and the increasing pressures from a growing population.

The Federation of North Toronto Residents Associations, FoNTRA, wishes to express its comments on the above noted initiative, which was established under the 16-point Housing Action Plan with senior representation from the province, GTHA, municipalities, and the development and real estate industries1 but without any public input or engagement!

The Ontario government is about to make a big decision that will tell us a lot about what the future of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area will look like. The reason is that, according to the Ministry of Transportation (MTO), the fate of the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the GTA West, AKA Highway 413, will be decided within the next 60 days.

The EA estimates the highway will cost $4 to $6 billion to construct, excluding the expense of land expropriation and ongoing highway maintenance.