Simcoe County Council has voted in favour of a one year moratorium on construction at the Site 41 landfill near Elmvale.
It took council almost three and a half hours of discussion to reach the decision that brought a hundred or so protestors in the council chambers to their feet.
It also brought cheers from about a hundred more landfill opponents listening to the meeting on a PA system outside.
Council of Canadians Chair Maude Barlow says she is thrilled.
Barlow says it’s a victory for democracy and wonderful to see two sides that have been in opposition come together.
She says the moratorium means there will be a full review of how water at the site is affected and the information has to be released to the public.
Wasaga Beach Mayor Cal Patterson had been saying he was not in favour of a year long moratorium, but when the motion came to a vote, he said yes.
Collingwood Mayor Chris Carrier also voted in favour as did Clearview Township Mayor Ken Ferguson.
Collingwood Deputy Mayor Sandra Cooper, Clearview Township Deputy Mayor Alicia Savage and County Warden Tony Guergis were among those opposed.
There was talk at the meeting that a motion could come forward at the next county meeting in September to permanently stop construction of the landfill.
In the meantime, the county will be preparing to winterize the site which means filling it back up with the clay that has been removed.
Council has also voted to no longer pursue damages from the two women — Vicki Monague and Anne Ritchie Nahuis — named in a court injunction brought forward by the county.
Maude Barlow says she doesn’t know if the protest camp across from the landfill will continue, but she says opponents still have to be vigilant and never give up the fight for clean water.
The landfill was being built on the Alliston Acquifer which has been called the purest water supply in the world.
Earlier on Tuesday, many protestors, including Maude Barlow, left a public information session at the county museum because they felt the public was being preached to and important questions weren’t being answered.
That is until the landfill opponents started yelling and demanding their questions be heard.
The moderator then allowed everyone with questions to come up to microphones to get their answers.
There were as many as 450 people in total at the public information session.