July 30, 2026 - PWEP in-person update Sunday August 2nd

Friends,

It's been a whirlwind few weeks! We have been busier than ever this summer, and are looking forward to updating you on all of PWEP's activities this Sunday, August 2nd at 10am in the Lower Park (McIntyre Park, Inverhuron). The IDRA has invited us to give a presentation at their annual meeting.

In case you can't make it on Sunday, here are some highlights of our ongoing work:

Land Use Designation

So many of you participated in the Bruce County Official Plan Review, sharing your concerns about the Secondary Urban designation for Inverhuron and the Lakeshore. Thanks to your tireless engagement, our message was heard: while Inverhuron will likely remain designated as a Secondary Urban Community in the County Official Plan, we are very close to getting protections against intensive development overlaid in the Municipality of Kicardine's local Official Plan, in the form of a Secondary Plan for Inverhuron and the Lakeshore. 

We know the different planning tiers and jargon can be confusing, especially since "Secondary Urban Community" sounds very similar to our proposed "Secondary Plan". To be clear, the Secondary Plan we are proposing functions similarly to a special policy area, and would cover all of Inverhuron and the Lakeshore, with the goal of protecting the area's unique natural and historical heritage. So, while we may not get our Hamlet status back, the Secondary Plan proposed by PWEP will offer equal, perhaps even greater protections going forward. 

All that remains now is for the municipality to approve our proposal. Members of PWEP will present our outline of the Secondary Plan to the municipal council as soon as August 12th, and the matter will likely be decided by the end of the month. Once the council approves our Secondary Plan concept, the real work begins: studies such as the long-requested comprehensive stormwater management plan and watershed studies will commence. We will also be putting together a Citizen Advisory Committee, so there will be plenty of opportunities to participate in the process. As always, we will keep you informed every step of the way.

This is the moment we've been working towards: all of our efforts, targeted email campaigns and participation in public meetings have led elected officials to understand that now is the time to implement the solutions we are advocating for. Stay tuned!

Water

We held our first ever Water Seminar in early July, and it was a big success. We already have a team of volunteers to monitor the Little Sauble River, and we will continue to research mitigation strategies and reach out to other organizations working on water quality issues in the area to amplify our impact. 

We have heard the growing concerns about water quality in Inverhuron Bay, and are doing everything we can to fast-track our monitoring program. To this effect we would like to ask anyone who notices an issue to record it, and send us a photograph with an approximate location description. Big events are what need to be recorded (such as brown plumes coming off the Little Sauble River; floating green or red algae mats; white waters; fish kill (100s of fish) along beach; black muck of decaying vegetation washing up on shore; lack of water (internal seiche). Your assistance in systematically documenting any such issues over time will really help us to define necessary responses going forward.

As well, anyone with a boat who is willing to take out one of our volunteers once or twice a month to munitor conductivity and transparency (Secchi Depth) at 2 or 3 sites during the ice-free season, please let us know.

Bruce C

And last but not least, we will also be participating in the Bruce C project Impact Assessment. 

For more in-depth information on all of our activities, please come to our presentation on Sunday. We hope to see you there, and look forward to connecting with you all!

Thank you for your continued trust and support. 

The Team@PWEP

The Philosopher’s Wool Environmental Preserve

2 Alma Street

Tiverton, ON

pwepreserve@gmail.com

www.pwepreserve.ca

Respectfully acknowledging that we live, work and benefit from the Lands and Waters of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation.