Ontario Construction News staff writer
About 500 residents attended a public consultation last week in Hamilton to ask questions about proposed development of local Greenbelt land.
About 795 hectares will be removed and used by new landowners and city staff will negotiate โcommunity benefitsโ which could include new parks, community centres and hospitals.
Feedback will be presented at a special planning committee meeting on Thurs., Sept. 14.
New provincial housing minister Paul Calandra has said he will prioritize the Ford governmentโs goal of building 1.5 million new homes across the province by 2031, which was one of a number of recommendations put forward in the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force report released in 2022.
โThe task forceโs report did not at the time contemplate the enormous amount of growth that the province was going to see, not only from outside of the country but also from other parts of Canada,โ he said. โWe are seeing tremendous growth in the province of Ontario. This is a very exciting and encouraging time for the people of this province. We need those 1.5 million homes.โ
Housing development will be prioritized in areas along transit routes and where there is existing infrastructure, which could mean going ahead with construction on Greenbelt lands following a review.
When asked if the province needs to build on the Greenbelt to meet housing targets, Calandra said proposed development of the protected lands would go ahead if certain standards are met.
โDo we need to build on the Greenbelt? Well weโre moving forward with building on the Greenbelt if, as I said yesterday, after the facilitator has completed her work, it meets the standards that weโll be setting with respect to the full Greenbelt review then we will move forward with that,โ he said. โIf it doesnโt, the land will be returned back to the Greenbelt.
โWe have to build where the resources are.โ