PelhamToday received the following reader letter regarding ongoing development in Wainfleet:
Like many councils in Niagara, elected to represent the best interests of their municipality’s citizens, Wainfleet’s council is no different than many in showing a complete indifference to the concerns of many local citizens, particularly regarding development.
The new Regional Official Plan (looking to 2051) recognizes Wainfleet as the sole municipality in the Niagara Region designated only as 'rural', with 'no urban areas’. This also applies to the Hamlets or Settlement areas.
The above based on reports from Regional planning and development staff stating that Wainfleet remains a Zero Growth area with only limited economic growth and going on to say that the most recently approved Master Plan, regarding mains water and sewer, had no provisions for extending municipal mains water and sewer to Wainfleet for the period of this new Official Plan.
But here in Wainfleet it is not just rural areas that are being subjected to unprecedented urban sprawl, but far worse, good and existing agricultural land.
Currently this municipality, designated as only rural, has at least five subdivisions approved and at least three condominiums. If anyone wants to see just how well our planning staff and our council are ‘protecting Wainfleet’s agricultural and rural character’ they only have to drive past the site of the Lakewood Condominium on Lakeshore.
Currently this municipality, designated as only rural, has at least five subdivisions approved and at least three condominiums
It is urban sprawl of the worst kind and, like all the other proposed ‘urban sprawls’, was recommended by planning staff and approved by our elected council with absolutely no regard for Wainfleet or its communities.
And all of it had absolutely nothing to do with any Ford government or its appalling housing policies, or its attack on the Greenbelt.
It has all been done in-house, in Wainfleet, by a planning staff who only serve developers, any developer will do, and all approved by a council who ‘promised’ to protect Wainfleet’s agricultural and rural character just to buy votes during recent elections.
I am submitting this as a letter to the editor as I know, only too well, that any comments submitted to Wainfleet council, expressing concerns regarding any approved developments, will be ignored. The number of Wainfleet residents discovering this sad fact is growing on a daily basis.
Whilst we all know our taxation will increase, we are also discovering that the democratic principle of ‘no taxation without representation’ is dead. We are now taxed by politicians no longer interested in the many concerns of those they once claimed to represent.
Andrew Watts
Wainfleet
