Comment
Diffused growth plan could serve all
by Bruce Haire

The provincial Liberal government started off looking at growth and controlling it under the caption of "smart growth" but it is more properly labelled "dumb growth".

Yes, it seemed that a lot of money could be saved in terms of infrastructure and servicing costs by packing growth in Barrie and of course the lands it wants to annex in north Innisfil.

But the mistake the Liberals made was to commission an environmental study at the same time examining the impact of growth on Lake Simcoe and the Nottawasaga watershed.

The Lake Simcoe study showed that Barrie centred growth would be disastrous for the Lake.

Of course, when the IGAP study (Intergovernmental Action Plan) was completed, the province with its head buried in the sand only gave the environment a 25% weighting and gave economic factors a 75% weighting and chose the Barrie and Area Single Node Scenario to put an additional 100,000 people south on the 400 corridor down into what is now Innisfil.

On Friday, we had the latest update from the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority on the Assimilative Capacity study for the Lake.

Once again the Conservation Authority warned that the impact of such a growth scenario produced phosphorus and pollution levels flowing from the current City of Barrie and then Lover's Creek to levels that were uncontrollable.

This could bring such an environmental degradation in Kempenfelt Bay that the cold water fishery of Lake Simcoe would be destroyed and even the precious jewel of Barrie's own waterfront would be destroyed.

In fact, the Conservation Authority recommended some type of diffuse growth plan as one best able to control environmental impacts and avoid creating the scenario of concentrating the pollution on Kempenfelt Bay.

It seems that we might as well stop those annexation talks of Barrie and Innisfil right now. The Conservation Authority is saying very clearly the Lake cannot sustain the recommended growth in that area.

Simcoe County must develop a growth management plan. It seems that a plan that disperses growth through many communities is the best for the environment.

Yes, servicing will cost more than if we put all the growth in Barrie, but the upside is that we save the Lake. We even save Barrie from itself in preserving the quality of its waterfront.

The other important part of the LSRCA recommendations is to move to Best Management Practices in terms of controlling storm water runoff from urban and urbanizing areas.

A lot of municipalities want some growth. It seems that a diffused growth plan such as the LSRCA could support, would have the least impact on the environment, could be supported by virtually all the municipalities and even by the citizens of Barrie if not by the politicians.

Perhaps, Barrie should hold a referendum for its citizens. Should we continue to push growth or should we save Lake Simcoe? Guess which way Barrie residents would vote.