Halton regional council to hear motion directing population, job growth to existing urban boundary

A motion to pause the urban boundary in Halton will be on the agenda at a regional council meeting tonight.

Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and Oakville Mayor Rob Burton co-sponsored the motion. It asks staff to develop a Regional Official Plan Amendment (ROPA) that fits the projected population and employment growth within the existing approved urban boundary to 2041, with no urban boundary expansion.

“We are required by the region to plan for how to accommodate the population that the province gives us, which is 1.1 million people and 500,000 jobs by 2051,” Meed Ward said in an interview on Morning Live Wednesday.

Regional staff created a growth plan that proposes to add 5,200 acres of farmland near Halton Hills and Milton in order to develop homes and businesses.

However, Meed Ward said a number of community members have raised concerns about increasing the urban boundary.

One opposition group called Stop Sprawl Halton said the loss of agricultural space will have a negative impact on the environment.

The amendment put forward by Meed Ward and Burton proposes a two-step plan for assigning the population and job growth to each municipality: now to 2041, and 2041 to 2051.

No additional population or job growth will be given to any municipality from now to 2041.

Meed Ward said the next twenty years will provide regional staff with the time to create a framework to be executed between 2041 to 2051 that minimizes land consumption.