The Countryside Line is still worth protecting

Over more than 20 years, Waterloo Region has been a leader in smart growth planning, including our Regional Growth Management Strategy that started in 2003.

It’s a framework that gave us Ion rapid transit, protected our irreplaceable groundwater resources, supported a thriving agricultural sector and directed growth to complete communities in our urban centres.

Our region, with its four townships and three cities, has maintained the distinctiveness of our urban and rural communities. By planning for sustainable growth, we now welcome most of our new neighbours within the existing urban areas, where infrastructure costs are most efficient.

Thriving cities need a protected countryside, and vice versa. Past regional councils made tough decisions about which properties would be inside and outside of that line.

We undertook comprehensive reviews of our Regional Official Plan to make sure our growth planning could meet the needs of residents, businesses, First Nations, and farmers, among other groups. We defended those decisions at the Ontario Municipal Board (now Ontario Land Tribunal).

In the last 18 months, the Countryside Line has been breached. Unnecessary urban boundary expansions have been requested by local councils, or imposed by the province. This has turned a thoughtful, long-term planning exercise into a piecemeal free-for-all that will not result in more affordable development.

We know that the Region of Waterloo’s planning authority is slated to be downloaded to area municipalities, but we still share one watershed. We are still connected by a regional transportation network. And we have the responsibility to continue planning for growth in a sustainable and co-ordinated way.

Therefore, we urge area municipalities to work together to maintain the Countryside Line, as adopted in the council-approved Regional Official Plan (ROPA 6), and to enshrine the Countryside Line policies in their respective official plans.

We also call upon the provincial government to expand Greenbelt protections to Waterloo Region, including the Waterloo Moraine and our protected countryside, to further reinforce the Countryside Line and protect our farmland.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Clarke, Region of Waterloo councillor, 2015-22 Jan d’Ailly, Waterloo City councillor, 2003-10

Tom Galloway, Region of Waterloo councillor, 19942022, City of Kitchener councillor, 1991-2000 Cheryl Gordijk, Township of Wilmot councillor, 2018-22 Jean Haalboom, Region of Waterloo councillor, 2000-14, City of Kitchener councillor, 1997-2000

Angie Hallman, Township of Wilmot councillor, 2018-22 Brenda Halloran, Region of Waterloo councillor, 2006-14, and City of Waterloo mayor, 2006-14

Dave Jaworsky, Region of Waterloo councillor, 2014-22 and City of Waterloo mayor, 2014-22

Geoff Lorentz, Region of Waterloo councillor, 2010-22, City of Kitchener councillor, 1988-2010

Jane Mitchell, Region of Waterloo councillor, 2000-18 Jennifer Pfenning, Township of Wilmot councillor, 2018-22 Angela Vieth, City of Waterloo councillor, 2007-22 Mark Whaley, City of Waterloo councillor, 2003-18