Pressure increasing on Waterloo Region’s urban boundaries

The conversation about land speculation has resurfaced.

This comes after a property within the Waterloo Region’s countryside line on Snyder’s Road was put on the market advertised as a long-term development property. Land within the countryside line, a rural area that’s been protected since the region’s inception, cannot be developed per zoning by-laws.

There’s been an increase in pressure on the region’s urban boundaries ever since former Housing Minister Steve Clark designated rural land for housing in April.

Vice-Chair of the Grand River Environmental Network, Kevin Thomason, called that decision “profoundly undemocratic” earlier in the year, and he maintained that our rural countryside needs to stay intact. Thomason added that he’s concerned about the increase in land speculation.

“I’m actually quite worried becuase this is something new to Waterloo Region,” said Thomason. “We’ve always seen a lot of land speculation happening elsewhere around the province. We’ve avoided that. Our rural townships have always made it very clear that they will remain rural.”

Thomason believes the conservation of the countryside line correlates with a high quality of life.

“The fact that we’ve been able to keep our countryside intact is one of the reasons why it’s so successful for our farmers, and why they’re thriving. That is why we enjoy such a high quality of life in Waterloo Region. Our countryside is part of our identity. I don’t think we can underestimate how much we depend on our rural countryside, not only for our food but our drinking water.”

Thomason also called it troubling that the provincial government approved the development of enough homes that would double our population to 1.2 million.

He said not only would it take decades for our population to reach the number that would make developing within the countryside line necessary, Waterloo Region doesn’t even know if it could support it.