CFFO: Farmland Trust Forum Highlights the Importance of Getting Land Use Policy Right

Last month, the Ontario Farmland Trust held their annual policy forum, which focused on the impending reviews of the Greenbelt Plan, the Oak Ridges Moraine Plan, the Niagara Escarpment Plan and the Places to Grow Plan. These plans work together to protect farmland and to direct the growth of settlement areas throughout the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The key message of the day was the tremendous need to ensure that policies need to be both generally correct at a broad level and must work in specific situations in the way intended by policy makers.

Kevin Eby of the Region of Waterloo provided the key-note address. He provided a great story around how sometimes being generally right can result in being specifically wrong. During the railway development period in 1800s America, an enterprising individual began purchasing land where he believed major river crossing would be built, hoping to profit from the sale of the land to the railway company. However, the railway company chose to swing south rather than cross where he predicted it would occur. The American was generally correct that the railways would meet at the river, but he was specifically wrong regarding where that crossing would occur.

Land use planning at the level of the Greenbelt and the other plans need to be continually tested to see if the policies that seem generally right are working under specific circumstances. The general perception of Ontarians of what the Greenbelt is accomplishing seems to be largely positive in ensuring there is a food-belt around the GTA. However, the perceptions on the ground are much more wide ranging, with some farmers having no issues in going about their business while others attribute many problems to the plan. Identifying these trouble spots and determining if the greenbelt is truly the cause of concern, and then looking for solutions that correct the specific situations within the generally right policy needs to be a priority as the province enters the review period.

Furthermore, Eby argued that good planning facilitates change by preparing the way for trends that are emerging rather than attempting to socially engineer change. When I consider this in relation to the Greenbelt, there is some thinking that is required moving forward. For example, we know that traditional livestock production has been declining within the Greenbelt in general due to urban pressures. Should efforts be made to curb that outflow, or should we be looking at promoting the types of agriculture that may be more successful in a near-urban context?

The Ontario Farmland Trust forum was a great opportunity to meet with people interested in preserving our best farmland for future generations. The insights of the keynote speaker and the various panelists highlighted the need for policy to be both generally right and specifically right for the individuals that live and work under the policies we put in place.

Source: CFFO