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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, Ja nu ar y 27 ,2 02 2 | 12 noitcnuf naelc-fleS • lluf si tekcub eci nehw dnuos lliw mralA • yalpsid DEL htiw slortnoc cinortcele elpmiS • eci fo sbl 2 ot pu erots naC • SERUTAEF rekam-eci nredom dna evitcartta siht htiw eb nac sa gnihserfer dna dloc sa sknird ruoy peeK gnixaleR ro gnitsoH er'uoY rehtehW BDSS0052MID NWOHS LEDOM moc.ybnaD ta srekaM ecI fo enil lluf s'ybnaD eeS7491 ECNIS Oakville town council has unanimously endorsed municipal staff's criticisms of Halton Region's Integrat- ed Growth Management Strategy (IGMS) -- official- ly doing so at its Jan. 18 meeting. The IGMS is the region's road map for managing growth within Halton up to the year 2051 -- a plan for accommodating 1.1 million people and 500,000 jobs by that year. Intensification, transit supportive projects and an urban boundary ex- pansion are proposed in the Region's Preferred Growth Concept (PGC). Town staff are "general- ly supportive" in their re- port to council. However, they raised some "con- cerns" in the report. While the report shines a light on the region's meth- odology and planning pro- cess, development into green spaces is a major talking point. "Town staff remain of the opinion that settlement area boundary expansions should be viewed as a last option to be used when op- portunities to accommo- date growth within the ex- isting settlement areas are exhausted," states the re- port. While most of the new growth is being allocated to existing settlement areas, Halton Region is hoping to expand the settlement area boundary onto agricultur- al land. This is happening just south of, as well as to the east of, Milton and to the south of Georgetown. This would create new commu- nity and employment areas of 2,120 hectares (5,238 acres). "I think there's lots and lots of evidence and cer- tainly, lots of reliable sources that say urban sprawl is not the way to go," Karen Brock, president of the Oakville Green Conser- vation Association said in an interview with The Bea- ver. "We tried it in the '50s and '60s and '70s and even later, but we realized that it's expensive and it's com- promising the best farm- land in Ontario. It doesn't provide walkable commu- nities for an aging, growing population. Transit is so much more expensive if you don't have enough of a population in a certain ar- ea." "Land-use decisions in north Halton impact us all and there are no borders when it comes to the impact of the climate emergency and local food security," resident Aki Tanaka told council. Oakville council declared a climate change emergency in 2019. Halton regional council did the same later in the year. Staff also raised the is- sue of minimum intensifi- cation requirements. In- tensification, in simple terms, is when more densi- ty is added to an already es- tablished area. The PGC proposes a re- gionwide minimum resi- dential intensification tar- get of new residential growth of 45 per cent. How- ever, the province's Growth Plan requires a minimum densification of 50 per cent for Halton. "We can keep the exist- ing urban boundary, keep our farms for food security and accommodate the same mix as long as we use land efficiently," said resi- dent Crystal Bhikha. "We should be doing ev- erything in our power to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius. However, the Preferred Growth Plan has only 45 per cent intensi- fication, while the provin- cial minimum requirement is 50 per cent. If we are not meeting the minimum re- quirement, we are not do- ing everything we can to address climate change," she added. "Would we be breaking the law if we didn't support the draft Preferred Growth Concept? My answer is no," mused Mayor Rob Burton in council. "My belief is that the land needs assess- ment that has been offered by the Region does not it- self follow the law." The mayor praised staff for "pointing out the way the land needs assessment does not conform to the Growth Plan and the rest of the laws that the province has imposed on us." TOWN CRITICAL OF HALTON'S GROWTH PLAN Halton Region's Integrated Growth Management Strategy is facing criticism from the Town of Oakville. Graham Paine/MetrolandMANSOOR TANWEER mtanweer@metroland.com NEWS RESIDENTS QUESTION HALTON'S GOAL OF EXPANDING SETTLEMENT AREA BOUNDARY INTO FARMLAND SCAN FOR MORE Scan this code for more local news.