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THE HERALD OUTLOOK Saturday July Page 9 NEC plan does not prohibit development reader says Dear Sir We are responding to the two tides in your July 1989 edition entitled Hewitt under fire at NEC from environmentalist group and Eight members op pose plan We believe these ar ticles are based on four assump tions that are incorrect 1 development is not permitted under the Niagara Escarpment Plan 2 the way to protect the escarp ment is to have no development 3 any member of the Niagara Escarpment Commission who votes in favor of any form of development is opposed to the Plan and Commission members who re ject any form of development are good and those who vote in favor of development are bad First of all the Niagara Escarp ment Plan describes the type of development permitted on the escarpment It does not prohibit development The 725 kilometres of land that make up the escarpment corridor have been divided into seven land- use designations each with its own specified level of permitted development For example land which falls into the protection or the natural designations can on ly be developed in very limited ways whereas land with the designations of rural or of ur ban can have more development It is therefore incorrect to assume that the Niagara Escarp ment Plan prohibits development It is designed to provide a balance between development and preser vation of this important resource Indeed a blanket prohibition would be the equivalent of ex propnation without compensation and a level of government in tervention that is not in our democratic tradition The second incorrect assumption is that the way to protect the escarpment is to have no develop ment The plan is the result of the input from many different groups representing many different points of view across the develop mentpreservation spectrum This diversified input reflects On tanos growing population of peo ple with increasingly varied backgrounds and land use in terests To suggest that a 725 kilometre comdor running up the centre of Ontario should be entire ty unavailable for normal uses in vites wholesale rejection of the plan A full scale prohibition on development in the escarpment corridor would be overturned and put the escarpment lands at greater risk than the current policy of controlled development The third assumption is that any member of the NEC who votes in favor of development is opposed to the plan As discussed earlier the plan permits certain types of develop ment depending on the lands classification and the proposals merits within the plan Some pro posals will comply with the plan some will be borderline and some will not comply at all Accordingly every proposal must be judged on its own merit It is important for commission members to know the plan and be able to apply it in a fair and objective fashion and not be in fluenced by pressure groups or personal biases Clearly a member who votes in favor of a development proposal can not be assumed to be opposed to the plan The fourth incorrect assumption is that commission members who reject any form of development are good and those who vote in favor of development are bad If the members of the commis sion were to look at every applica tion for development within the 725 kilometre corridor and simply say No they would be in conflict with what the Niagara Escarp ment Plan says They would also be in conflict with the of every citizen to have an impartial hearing How can anyone suggest that blanket rejection of all develop ment m the Niagara Escarpment corridor is the spirit or policy of the Niagara Escarpment Plan If it were why have a Niagara Escarpment Commission at all Why not save the taxpayers money by having a part time employee periodically stamp all applications for development with the word Rejected and leave it at Surely good commission members are those who know the plan and apply it objectively to each development proposal Bad commission members are those who are captive to the agenda of any singleinterest lobby group The Niagara Escarpment Plan is a major step on the road to sus tainable development It is a shield against both cut and slash developers and lets turn back the clock romanticists Yours truly Kent and Lois McClure GREEN MEADOWS NURSERY GARDEN CENTER For All Your Gardening Needs 8731200 DIALAPRO A Directory of Services Offered in Our Community tMillMMilkIH CLASSIC WELDFAB Railings Dnveway Sates Iron Fences Spiral Stairs 19 Armstrong Ave 8775928 HOMES OFFICE CLEANING MO GARDENS sun WE CLEAN THE WAY WANT DONE Call 8383510 20 Years Experience DAWSON LANDSCAPING LTD JIMSANO 8731596 PAUL DAWSON Custom Painting LAN0SCAPE DESIGN Retaining Walls Interlock Stone Trees Shrubs Maintenance 8731200 EAGLE ENTERPRISES A LA Sargent 8778226 McQUEEN FQRSYTHE 8732572 CALL GEORGETOWN RENTALL Sinclair MalnMnanca Written Gum Mm SupplM 8776228 We Otter Today 8772746 YEARS MIOHNG EWHEMX Free Estmates Guarantee Bidding CUSTOM REPLACEMENT PATIO DOORS MEL TAYLOR ALUMINUM LTD Of AUTHORIZED LINER REPLACEMENTS Our Specialty Pear Experience AQUATIC POOL SPA 8531800 GEORGETOWN Km of Hi 8784484 HILLSIDE SAND GRAVEL LIMESTONE BUD HAINES DURHAM ST GEORGETOWN HALTON TRAILER SALES RENTAL Taylor Coach Gypsy LI Trailer Star Cod Camper Salet A Service Trailer TrKsCsp JAKE M 8774266 ARBOR TREE SERVICE KS SSL wins J J ELECTRONICS 3G0 SI Georgetown GE Authorized Service TV Stem VCR Microwave A Converter Repairs Day Warmtfoii forts and for Sale 8731820 I J SALES 4SERVKE TV STEREO REPAWS All Work Guaranteed lor M DAYS we service we sell Hitachi BRAMPTON COLOUR SOUND SOFAS CHAIRS RKorevad Like New Henrys Upholstery FILTER QUEEN Sale Service Centre e Central e portable Used Units now Cell R SCRAP METALS RR 2 Georgetown Efr8PE