Friends,
What a great crowd we had at the PWEP meeting last Saturday! We covered a lot of ground, had an excellent discussion, and were joined by Martin Straathof of the Ontario Farmland Trust (OFT) to celebrate the Bourgeois' farm now being protected in perpetuity through the OFT. Thank you all for coming out despite the rain, and to those of you who weren't able to make it this time, hopefully we get to see you soon in our new PWEP Library / Community Space!
The library is open every Saturday 10am-5pm at 2 Alma Street in Inverhuron, and during weekdays just give a quick call ahead to make sure someone is there: 519-368-5354
Come visit us, browse, meet, read, have a coffee – you can see pictures on Facebook and Instagram, and please consider following us on social media, it's a great way to spread the word.
In this newsletter we will share the main updates covered during the meeting; we also want to thank you for your continued support and ask you to please donate, so that we can continue to do the work we are doing.
We are pleased to report that both the Tidman and Sundance developments are currently at a standstill.
The judicial review concerning Tidman is underway, and there will be two hearings. The first one, requested by the defendant, will be on the issue of standing; essentially the opposing party is trying to get the case thrown out on the grounds that PWEP has no standing as a legal entity. We have just submitted overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and our legal counsel has advised us we have very good chances of a favorable outcome. This first hearing will likely not happen before the end of this year, maybe early next year. To be clear, this delay is much more of a setback for the developer than it is for us, and this is their own doing. Throughout all of this we are keeping our eye on the ball; we will continue to work toward getting our concerns heard and addressed.
After this initial hearing will come the hearing on the actual merits of the case. So, as you can see, the timeline is shifting, but we’re in it for the long haul, and we're asking for your help. For your information, we have used about $6000 out of the total $9000 generously donated so far; those $6000 allowed us to commence the judicial review process and put together a substantial body of evidence to support our case. Our immediate needs for the next step are an additional $3000 dollars to get us through the first hearing. We are ready and eager to put in all the volunteer hours it takes to make every dollar count at least double, but we need your support. So please, if you can, donate here.
This judicial review is also important with regards to Sundance: the fact that a similar development project is embroiled in a court case may act as a deterrent. The Sundance Draft Plan was submitted in September of last year, and usually the next step would be for the municipality to schedule a public meeting shortly thereafter, but that hasn’t happened yet, which we think is a good sign. We will alert you as soon as the meeting is scheduled, so you can get your comments in prior to the meeting. Meanwhile check out the PWEP website for current information and resources; you can read all about the proposal, including the critical peer review of the developer's Environmental Impact Statement.
Concurrently, we will continue to engage with the Municipality and the County on big picture issues such as land use designation (see PWEP's Statement of Concernand comments on the Municipality's CIP), and will keep you informed as we move forward. If we don't want to be inundated with environmentally damaging developments that do nothing to address the affordable housing crisis while destroying what is left of Inverhuron's fragile natural environments, it is crucial that the issue of land use designation be addressed. We will keep engaging with councillors and planners in order to address the concerns we have raised, and will keep you advised as to how you can participate.
Thank you all so much for your continued trust and support as we navigate these complex issues. The more we all learn together, the more effective we can be: an informed constituency is fundamental to checks and balances, safeguarding our environment and holding our elected officials accountable.
Stay tuned!
The Team @ PWEP
The Philosopher’s Wool Environmental Preserve
2 Alma Street
Tiverton, ON
Respectfully acknowledging that we live, work and benefit from the Lands and Waters of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation.
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