A motion for a decision was delayed by Meaford council after concerns were raised about how lands would be protected by the Escarpment Corridor Alliance (ECA).
The ECA’s goal is to get policy support, legal protections, and funding to create an ecological corridor across the Niagara Escarpment of South Georgian Bay to connect fragmented habitats within its area of influence.
The motion, which followed a presentation from the alliance on June 22, was postponed after council agreed it needed more information on how the proposal would affect farmland.
Coun. Tony Bell expressed reservations, voicing concern about organizations placing restrictions on privately owned land.
“You come in and you want to do a building somewhere, put a shed for a house or combine,” says Bell. “Then you find out somebody somewhere else that doesn’t even live here has made a decree on your property that’s got a listing on it so you can’t do anything with it.”
Bell continued “I care about sustainability and I care about our environment, but to me, who fingers are in who’s pie and how deep do they go.”
Coun. Harley Greenfield, who brought the motion forward, was disappointed that it had to be postponed.
“To me, it seems fairly straight forward, do we want to preserve and protect what we’ve got,” says Greenfield. “I really have my doubts if this council is really all that concerned, and that disappoints me big time.”