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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday March 9, 2007 - 7 Mayor calls provincial plan More Places to Sprawl Continued from page 1 During a press conference Wednesday morning, Carr stood shoulder to shoulder with the mayors of Halton's four municipalities -- Burlington's Cam Jackson, Halton Hills' Rick Bonnette, Milton's Gord Krantz and Oakville's Rob Burton. They have dubbed themselves Durable Halton. The mayors stressed the province must create a concrete financial plan to help pay the $8.6 billion the politicians say the contentious development plan, Places to Grow, will cost Halton property taxpayers. The money is needed to accommodate a 68 per cent population increase by 2031. At that time, the population in Halton is expected to reach 780,000. The region released the figures last month, but is now trying to engage the public to tell them why they should care about the provincial growth plan and the impact it could have on their wallets, not to mention possible social and health implications. The mayors emphasized they want to work with Ontario politicians collaboratively to come up with a solution, but the economic cost of Places to Grow -- which gives the province the power to dictate where future population will go -- must be dealt with head on. Part of that, Carr said, includes LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER FAIR DEAL: Oakville Mayor Rob Burton fields questions at Wednesday's Fair Halton press conference. the public getting involved. "We're going to be saying to the public here are the facts and we want them to very clearly articulate that to all the local candidates," Carr said at regional headquarters in Oakville. For example, he said people should ask about an Ontario pooling system that mandates Halton send tens of millions of dollars a year to help Toronto pay for its social services. Residents can visit the region's website, www.halton.ca, to e-mail concerns to a provincial or federal member of parliament. Said Bonnette: "With an election coming up this is an appropriate time that we come forward...We have bulls-eyes on us." While each municipality faces its own issues with Places to Grow, the goal of Durable Halton is the same, Jackson said. "We sit ready, as a region and municipalities, to sit down with the government to better manage the pace of change and to make sure we can afford it," he said. The region suggests $8.6 billion is needed to create 1,100 new hospital beds, 50 elementary schools, 14 secondary schools, 1,650 acres of parkland, 22 firehalls, 11 local transit facilities and 175 municipal buses. The region-wide effort, which has been dubbed Fairness for Halton, also lets those at Queen's Park know about the local funding shortfalls that need to be fixed -- such as the combined local infrastructure deficit of $300 million -- in order to meet the growth targets specified in the Places to Grow plan. "What we are saying is we'd like to sustain our growth," said Halton Hills Mayor Rick Bonnette. For Milton Mayor Gord Krantz, the matter boiled down to one of "say and pay," meaning if the Province is going to say this is how growth is happening, then it needs to follow up with some money. Burlington Mayor Cam Jackson shared similar sentiments. He said if the Province is going to "dictate" what goes on inside Halton's urban boundaries, then it has a moral obligation to become the Region's financial partner. Oakville Mayor Rob Burton said he thinks the motion delivers a friendly and helpful message to the Province. "We want to remind them there's still time to keep their promise from the 2003 election to make growth pay for itself," he said. Burton was critical of the Places to Grow plan. He told reporters that, in his opinion, the document has two faces -- one that identifies areas for intensification (building in already-established places to prevent sprawl) and the other that identifies greenfield development (building on land that's currently `green'). In those latter sections, Burton said the plan should be called "More Places to Sprawl." While Krantz said he supports growth, he also indicated he's opposed to the large population numbers presented in Places to Grow. But according to the Province, there are some misconceptions out there about the population forecast presented in the plan. "People think the growth plan is creating growth. It's simply shining a light on it," said Brad Graham, assistant deputy minister for the Growth Secretariat at the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal. "We can either just let this growth occur, or we can actually plan for it." He explained the premise of the plan is to use urban lands much more productively and use less green space, in turn avoiding an "endless sea of subdivisions." In terms of the financial commitments Halton is looking for, Graham said the Province is committed to aligning its infrastructure spending with the priorities and populations set out in the growth plan. He noted that the Province isn't the sole financier of infrastructure, pointing to development charges and the money pitched in by municipalities. Graham also highlighted the fact that financial investment decisions get made over time, not all at once. For example, he said the Province created a Renew Ontario plan in 2005 -- a five-year plan that allocates, amongst other things, $7.5 billion for growth-related capital projects in the Greater Golden Horseshoe.