Brant County officials say they are eager to implement a new official plan for the municipality.
The document outlines where new businesses, industry and housing would be located, what infrastructure such as parks, schools, roads and sewers would be needed, and the order in which areas of the municipality would grow.
“The official plan helps the county to evolve, improve and realize its full potential in areas such as land use and the environment,” said Pam Duesling, Brant’s general manager of development services. “The draft new official plan took two years to develop and consulting with the public was an incredibly important part of the process to learn how the community wants to improve and grow, now and into the future.”
The county says it is still waiting for a provincial response to the draft plan, which was submitted last Aug. 17 to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
“The government has many competing priorities to address,” said Brant Mayor David Bailey. “However, the county has invested a lot of time and resources into the official plan and we are disappointed the province has not provided how so we can finalize and complete this project.”
Duesling said the county is eager to work with the ministry.
“The draft new official plan provides new policies related to affordable and attainable housing opportunities, which is a need in the county,” she noted. “The plan will allow additional flexibility in designing complete communities to ensure our community builds possible, affordable housing for all income levels and ages.”
The Expositor contacted the ministry about the county’s concerns over delayed comments on the official plan.
“Under the Planning Act, the minister would make a decision on a municipal official plan once it has been adopted by council and submitted to the ministry,” said spokesperson Matt Carter.
Carter said ministry has only received the draft official plan.
“As such, there is no impediment to the Brant council proceeding with adopting the existing draft official plan and then submitting to the ministry.”
A staff report going before council council on Tuesday evening recommends waiting for ministry comments that are expected following the June 2 provincial election.
County council also has expressed concerns to the province over new legislation resulting from Bill 109, the More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022.
The legislation aims to streamline the development process to speed up the creation of affordable homes by delegating authority of site plan control, suspension of approval of official plans, or to simply refer official plans to the Ontario Land Tribunal. County staff say the latter would have unanticipated consequences for the the municipality’s strategic objective to manage growth in the community.
“County council believes that development decisions should continue to be made by local councils and committees which recognize community priorities,” Duesling said. “We want growth to occur in a thoughtful manner. We do not want to fast track development beyond what is reasonable.”
She said the county is dedicated to working with neighboring First Nations communities, and wants to ensure the preservation of agricultural lands and natural heritage.
“The County of Brant currently has a 15-year supply of residential housing in the pipeline and staff continue to work daily with developers to ensure a mix of housing options will be available to the community.”