Put housing where it belongs - in town

I would like to thank Scott Dunn for his recent article on the highly questionable change to the Provincial Policy Statement that will permit urban residential housing on prime agricultural land. Yet another rural policy created south of Bloor Street.

I was pleased to see that Mr. Dunn sought the advice of Wayne Caldwell, one of the most qualified individuals to comment on agricultural policy and rural issues. As noted by Dr. Caldwell, the province has been losing 319 acres of agricultural land per day before this GTA policy reared its ugly head.

The countryside is for farming and those other economic activities that need to be in the countryside because the resource is there and these are fixed resources. One cannot move prime agricultural land but you can sterilize it. Urban housing does not need to be there. If the authors of this urban sprawl policy had read the PPS they may have noted that settlement areas are to be the focus of growth. Urban residential housing in the countryside not only has questionable economic benefits, it is generally a nuisance.

If the provincial intelligentsia are concerned with providing urban housing at all costs, perhaps the province should fund urban infrastructure so municipalities can put residential homes where they are supposed to be.

W. Scott, Bruce County