Local economic support team releases open letter supporting Wilmot land expropriation

An open letter has been released by the Business and Economic Support Team of Waterloo Region (BESTWR).

The support team is comprised of the Waterloo Region Economic Development Corporation, Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, Explore Waterloo Region, Greater KW Chamber of Commerce and Communitech.

The letter released Friday afternoon states the case about why the land expropriation in Wilmot Township is needed.

Ian McLean is the president and CEO of the Greater KW Chamber of Commerce who penned the letter on behalf of BESTWR. It adds how critical of a time this is in Waterloo Region to acquire these shovel-ready lands.

“We are on the path to one million residents and this inevitable growth requires investment and most importantly, jobs. Preparing shovel-ready land is critical and will be pivotal to the ongoing success of our future economy and communities across Waterloo Region.”

The letter continues, “we consistently hear that employment lands are essential to attracting anchor investment and job creation opportunities for our region. These jobs will create the economic prosperity we need for our growing community.”

“The essential investment and the jobs created will carry Waterloo Region into the future, providing opportunities required for our growing workforce. Our community must continue to attract anchor investments that will produce both direct jobs and the supply chain jobs that inevitably will follow.”

McLean said the region has to frequently turn away investment because of the lack of shovel-ready land available.

“We are frequently turning away investment because we do not have large and shovel-ready parcels of land. We cannot as a community continue to reject opportunities for stable, secure and well-paying jobs,” he said. “This trend will have a significant impact on our community over the long term and we need to plan for our future.”

McLean goes on to say how much of an extensive process global site selection is.

“Global site selection is a serious business with an extensive review and qualification process. Considerations are varied and complex including the identification of a suitable contiguous large parcel that is flat, close to a major power supply, is not in an environmentally protected area and situated within a 45-minute radius of a large, skilled and talented workforce.”

The letter goes on to state why these conversations need to move forward.

“We appreciate there is a difficult conversation unfolding but it must move forward. Waterloo Region has an exemplary reputation globally and is a destination of choice for investment and accompanying jobs. We believe that assembling shovel-ready land is essential for securing jobs and economic wealth. Consolidating land as reported in Wilmot Township will be transformational with an enormous economic impact. We must remain committed to completing this process. BEST Waterloo Region strongly supports shovel-ready land assembly and will continue to collaborate with all levels of government and community partners to secure an economic future of all residents.”

It comes after a public meeting was held in Wilmot Township Thursday where land owners facing potential expropriation raised concerns about the process that Waterloo Region is about to take with land acquisition.

CityNews 570 reported Friday morning that the Grand River Environmental Network was worried that more land than originally thought could be at risk as well.