Growing Woodstock’s push for more land nears final approval

A land swap that would give growing Woodstock more room is a step closer to final approval after the Oxford City’s politicians and their peers in neighboring Norwich Township approved the deal’s terms.

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In a unanimous vote Thursday night, Woodstock councilors agreed to conditions previously passed by Norwich Township council that would see 43 hectares of the latter municipality’s land transferred to the growing city, moving the proposal closer to completion.

The next stop for the boundary adjustment’s approval is with Oxford County council, which must approve the proposal. On Friday morning, Woodstock Mayor Jerry Acchione told The Free Press he didn’t foresee any hurdles at the county level.

“It’s a mutual benefit in the agreement between Norwich Township and, of course, the City of Woodstock,” Acchione said.

If county politicians give the plan the go-ahead, the agreement and “all other necessary documentation by all three municipalities” will be forwarded to Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for the final stamp of approval, states a report by Woodstock city staff.

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Although both councils had agreed to the amount of land in the boundary adjustment, Woodstock politicians sent the plan back to Norwich Township for approval in August due to a caveat that Norwich receive cross-border services, which is against Oxford County’s official plan.

“We couldn’t do that, and they seemed to understand that without too much question,” Acchione said.

Norwich revised the terms at its Sept. 24 meeting without the condition.

Some terms outlined in the agreement are that Woodstock pays all legal fees pertaining to the boundary adjustment, joint prosperity and tax mitigation.

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The 43 hectares is a much smaller swath of land than Woodstock was originally seeking when both communities started the process for the proposed boundary adjustment in June. The initial bid was that Woodstock inherited 395 hectares of Norwich’s land as part of the land swap proposal.

That plan was revised by Norwich politicians after they received an overwhelmingly negative response from residents, including a 400-signature petition strongly opposed to the proposal.

One reason Woodstock sought more land at its southern edge was its growing population, and the long-term need for more space. The main aim is to permit Patullo Avenue’s realignment to intersect Highway 59 farther from Highway 401 on- and off-ramps, a provincial requirement to allow industrial development on the road’s north side. The new boundary would put the road in Woodstock.

Woodstock’s top bureaucrat, David Creery, told politicians the earliest they could expect the land swap to be official would be Jan. 1, 2026.

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@BrianWatLFPress

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