16 = 5 Oakville Beaver | Thursday, November 10,2022 insidehalton.com CONSERVATION HALTON RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT CHANGES TO DEVELOPMENT APPROVALS HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@metroland.com Conservation Halton is asking the province to take a second look at Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act. The province's 36conser- vation authorities say the ill will limit their ability to determine where houses call conservation al, negative consequences." Conservation Halton says it the Province’ 'S the building process to meet a goal of 1.5 million homes in ‘easing property for Ontario resi- dents." ry Smallegange, chair of the Conservation m board of directors, sent a a ‘etter to the province signed by Rob Burton, Gord Krantz and Marianne Meed Ward, the three mayors in the conservation authori- ty's jurisdiction. A key element of the bill would see conservation au- thorities' role in the devel- opment approval process reduced. The province in- Graeme Frisque/Metroland Conservation Halton is concerned that changes to development approvals brought in by Bill 23 could lead to a reduction in wetlands, leading to more flooding. tends to transfer conserva- tion authorities’ responsi- bilities to the municipali- ties, though Conservation Halton said it is unclear how much its role would be taken over. "This will negatively im- pact our ability to protect people ane property from natural hazards, which seem to be more and more prevalent with extreme weather events," the letter said. Conservation Halton said most municipalities do not have the expertise in water resource engineer- ing, environmental plan- ning and regulatory com- =————= ketolibriyum ———— MAKE HEALTHY EASY 2387 Trafalgar Rd Oakville Ontario pliance. As a result, it said the changes will likely de- lay and add costs to the ap- prevent conservation au- thorities from entering into a memorandum of under- standing with municipali- ties for other services, such asnat heritage reviews. “Conservation Halton has demonstrated that we can deliver these service ef- ficiently without lengthen- ing the approvals process," the letter said. "There is no evidence that municipali- ties can do this faster or eaper.” Another key factor i: ‘81 the province's ability to le- fine what is considered a wetland. Conservation Hal- ton said a reduction in wet- lands " “could negatively af- ify and consider more effec- tive alternatives."