Letters

Still time to stand up against Faraday quarry

November 26, 2019

Nov. 26, 2019

To the Editor,

Ryan Denniston’s excellent letter on this subject in last week’s edition of this paper eloquently pointed out the failure of local councils and committees to protect local businesses and the well-being of local residents and the community from the devastating effects of a quarry operation located next to residents and tourism businesses. Unfortunately, his mention of the approval of the quarry proposal is factual. But fortunately, the approvals given to date are not the end of the approval process. While the appeal of Faraday’s Zoning change by concerned residents was rejected due to a technical error, the approval of the county’s Planning Amendment is currently under appeal. And the final step, which is the issue of the quarry license, has already been referred to LPAT (Local Planning Approval Tribunal , formerly OMB) by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. It is a sad fact that many outdated zoning plans and regulations are used by authorities to justify approvals of controversial developments for the benefit of special interests and to the detriment of entire communities. Case in point: Township and County issued approvals by simply ignoring and dismissing all submissions of local and seasonal residents such as: two petitions opposing the quarry totaling over a thousand signatures; dozens of letters to the authorities and the Minister; verbal presentations at public meetings; submission of several expert consultants technical reports pointing out shortcomings of existing reports. Many serious concerns regarding groundwater, noise, traffic, environment and fly-rock due to blasting, submitted to the authorities by concerned citizens and their expert consultants, were simply dismissed or worse, they were not even acknowledged to have been submitted.
All residents, businesses, visitors and all citizens who care about the environment and the well-being of this community with access to the internet are encouraged to keep themselves informed about the status of the quarry application by googling noplaceforaquarry.


Peter Wagner
Bay Lake



         

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