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Council gives approval for Catholic cemetery on 17 Sideroad CYNTHIA GAMBLE Staff Writer Halton Hills council has given its blessing for Official Plan changes to allow a Catholic cemetery on 17 Sideroad. The proposed cemetery is located on 42 acres of farmland beside the Trafalgar Rd. Sports Park. Approximately 22 acres would be used for burials, with the remaining used for internal roads, parking, a 17,222 sq. ft. mausoleum and administration buildings. The existing residence will be used for a caretaker's residence before being converted to office use. A woodlot on the site will be preserved. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamilton applied for the changes to site to allow the rural zoning to be changed to open spaceinstitutional and to change the Official Plan designation from Rural to Major Open Space. The cemetery, which will be phased in, is intended to serve about 24,000 Catholics living in Halton Hills, Milton, Erin and a portion of Puslinch Township. It is expected to serve the needs of the Catholic faith for 50100 years. The Diocese had appealed its application to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) because of the delay in decision from both the Town and Region. That delay was due to the freezing of land applications with the introduction of the Greenbelt legislation and Halton Region's Environmental Assessment for Trafalgar Rd. improvements. Although the property is located with the Greenbelt's Protected Countryside, the Diocese made its application before the legislation took effect and therefore does not have to conform to its policies. With council approval of the zoning and Official Plan changes, the Diocese could either withdraw its OMB appeal or the OMB could simply confirm the decision. No hearing has been scheduled yet. The Town Environmental Advisory Committee did comment on the proposal, urging the Diocese to use native trees and shrubs in the development of the cemetery, and integrated plant health care, instead of pesticides, for turf management. The next step for the cemetery, once all approvals are confirmed, will be the site plan approval.