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: Jr«i a it II ■;l "f liai 1 M nu m il 1111 jjlpmlmltelulliiliji H B,- A el iiHiflii These four members from Orono Public School's harrier team, recently competed at a Regional meet. Left to right - front row. Rene Boucher, Adam Sommerville. Back row: Melissa Topper and Jennifer Mèrcer. % CLARK MEATS " Take Home our farm fresh Taste DAVE & JENN v 282 King St. Newcastle, ON & 905-987-5800 Order your naturally raised, farm fresh turkey for Christmas Santa is coming to Stutt's Pharmacy Saturday, December 4th 10:00 am - 3:00 pm. Phone to book your FREE photo session 905-983-5009 g! stutt's l*D*A* Pharmacy S 5344 Main Street, Orono ^ I . ..... ■■■. » ■■■ i ■■■ i I.■■■ l 1. Happy Holidays from Terrens Wellness Centre r c tpy OUR BUSINESS IS HEALTH Suppliments*+Vitamins+Minerals+ Homéopathies & Energy Balancing Stress Relief and Improved Vitality ' Other Store Features Essential oils, crystals, jewellery, wellness books, & cards. Clothing and many other gift ideas Enjoy a healthy Holiday Season! OPEN Monday to Thursday and Saturday 9:30am to 5:00pm Fridays till 6:00 pm 5324 Main Street, Orono 905-983-5000 Wednesday, December 1, 2004 Greenbelt Continued from front of her farm equity, and will no longer be able to secure the operating loans needed to keep the family vineyard going. The farmers who addressed the panel Thursday night wanted compensation from the government for their loss of land value. "The only pension a farmer or forest owner has is the value of their land when they retired," stated an elderly farmer to great applause from the audience. "The Plan would be theft of our pension plans so the rich can walk up and down the trails," he stated. While there will be no more residential growth permitted permitted inside the Protected Country-side areas, there are policies permitting recreational recreational uses such as trails, parks , golf courses, campgrounds, ski hills and horse racing tracks. New residential lots are not permitted in the protected areas of the Greenbelt. Terry Clayton, former Mayor of Brock Township stated that while the Plan eliminates future estate residential development in the rural areas, it will create 100 acre estate lots. The Greenbelt Task Force was established by Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister John Gerretsen in February 2004 to make recommendations recommendations on the scope, content and implementation of a protection protection plan for the horseshoe region. It was recommended by the Task Force that the government not provide direct compensation to farmers for their loss of perceived future opportunities. "There should be compensation compensation for farmers," stated Ms. Bette Jean Crews, Executive Member of the 40,000 member member Ontario Federation of Agriculture. "We want compensation compensation for our loss of equity," equity," she stated. "You will hear people support the Greenbelt, as it should be," stated Crews, "but you can't support the Greenbelt on the backs of farmers." One farmer likened the plan to not compensate farmers for their loss to taking lands from native people without without compensation. Farmers say that while the proposed plan is protecting their land from development, it does nothing to improve the viability of their agricultural operations. The government panel was criticized for some of the proposed proposed Greenbelt boundaries at Thursday's public v meeting. One of the boundaries questioned questioned was the one that went right through the hamlet of Greenwood, north of Pickering. Pickering. Part of the hamlet is in the area protected by the Greenbelt, and the other part isn't'. Residents who spoke at the public meeting want the boundary extended to include the entire hamlet. One resident asked the panel to give the hamlet of Greenwood sufficient sufficient buffer to remain rural. Several delegations, including including a Greenwood resident, resident, asked the panel what criteria was used to delineate delineate the Greenbelt boundaries. boundaries. They wanted answers from the panel on what science science was used to draw up the boundaries, which in some cases are along municipal municipal borders. Former Conservative MPP Steve Gilcrest, who says he farms on the Oakridges Moraine, said he felt some of the boundaries were artificial and the government had no defensible position based on science in creating the Greenbelt boundaries. Panel member Victor Doyle, Director of Programming Programming with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Housing, responded to the question of how the borders were drawn by stating, "There is hard science. What I'm hearing hearing is that people want that packaged." A lawyer representing a land owner in the proposed Green-belt stated, "The natural natural conclusion is, the only science science in Which these boundaries boundaries are delineated is political science." While the meeting was dominated by comments from the agricultural community, a few environmental groups were also represented. A delegate delegate from the Greenbelt Alliance commended the gqy- emment on their plans to protect protect land from development, yet wondered why the plan stopped at the Durham Region. Doyle replied that the next stage of the plan will extend eastward. The Alliance representative then told farmers farmers they could still farm their lands, they just couldn't sell it to speculators." A few speakers questioned the wisdom behind creating an airport in the Greenbelt, north of Picketing. The consultation period for the proposed Greenbelt Protection Plan ends on December 12th. The Government Government plans to have the final plan ready by December 16th, the day the one year freeze on development in the proposed protected area ends. "If it takes another 30 to 60 days to go through the comments and to have staff go through all the submissions, so be it," said Doyle. JUNGLE CAT WORLD Open all year ! y* v* O t6appp çÿQôlidaps t 1 See how our Creatures are enjoying Winter, Siberian Tigers - Snow Leopards Amur Leopards - Arctic Wolves Lynx - Bobcats and many more Feeding Tour at 1:30 every day Corner 35/115&Taunton Rd. (Concession 6) wwwJunglecatworld.com Orono Crown Lands Trust New Year's Eve Friday, December 31, 2004 Orono Town Hall Cocktails at 7 pm Decadent Buffet & Dessert Table Music by "Crosswinds" Tickets: $65.00 per person ~ Call 905-983-5970