Principles of creating a “complete and sustainable community” in the Midhurst Secondary Plan area include:
- The Midhurst Secondary Plan is based on achieving the policies of the Province with respect to sustainable, efficient, cost-effective development and land use patterns, the conservation of natural and cultural heritage features, the protection of public health and safety and the achievement of minimum development densities. Further, this Secondary Plan is expected to achieve the goals and objectives of the Township of Springwater Official Plan
- Inherent to the Midhurst Secondary Plan is the promotion of energy-efficient design, the consideration of active transportation opportunities and the conservation of existing natural and cultural heritage features. These features are conserved and integrated within the overall design strategy and structure of the community
- The Midhurst Secondary Plan is based on a community structure that is diverse in use and population, is scaled to the pedestrian, can accommodate transit as well as private automobiles and has a well-defined and high-quality … roads and green-lands system. The structural principles include:
1) Provide a diversity of housing types ranging from single-detached houses to low-rise apartment buildings to achieve densities anticipated in municipal and provincial policy.
2) Plan for a density of development that will help to promote more affordable forms of housing, and will help to support the provision of public transit and a range of commercial activities.
3) Provide a mix of uses so that people can have the choice to work, shop and enjoy community facilities within the community of Midhurst.
The plan is also structured to:
- The majority of development within the existing Midhurst community is made up of single-detached, estate-style homes on large lots. Existing development is generally provided with municipal water services, with individual, private septic systems. It is the intent of this Secondary Plan to protect the character of the existing Midhurst community by limiting development potential within the existing neighbourhoods, and by providing a transitional buffer of low-density housing on lands that are in proximity to the existing neighbourhoods.
- It is also the intent of this Secondary Plan to promote sensitive intensification within the Bayfield Street Corridor, with a mixture of uses, including higher density forms of housing.
Major community focus:
- The intersection of Bayfield Street and Snow Valley Road has been identified as the major focus for the Midhurst community.
• This intersection is intended as the location for higher order retail and other employment generating uses, including community facilities.
• The design and function of this major community focus is important to the Township, and shall be considered comprehensively through the development approvals process.
My family has lived for 60 years in Midhurst, within 100 m from the intersection of Bayfield Street and Snow Valley Road. I find your article to be extremely one-sided but I suppose other peoples’ communities and the environment matter little. The Midhurst Secondary Plan not only threatens the nationally-important Minesing Wetlands but proudly boasts of not having one job attached to it. The Midhurst Secondary Plan is a direct assault on responsible planning in Simcoe County and would never have happened without the vigorous influence exerted on and by the red and blue provincial governments.