Simcoe County councillors are giving an Oro-Medonte landowner approval to substantially remove trees to make space for pigs to graze.
The Line 9 North landowner had to jump through a series of regulatory hoops, including paying for an environmental impact study and obtaining approval from a local conservation authority.
“Our (the county’s) policy had to do with clear cutting and now we’re getting into the landowner having to get a permit,” said Oro-Medonte Mayor Harry Hughes.
That process included input from a local conservation authority, which does not have jurisdiction to rule on matters that are not related to flooding, pollution to the water table, erosion or dynamic beaches.
“I didn’t see a beach anywhere in the area,” said Ramara Township Mayor Basil Clarke, who questioned why the landowner had to get the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority’s stamp of approval to remove trees from four acres (1.6 hectares) of his 25.7-acre (10.4-hectare) property.
Midland Mayor Gord McKay urged his colleagues to not open the door to deforestation in that area of the county, even if the conservation authority had no concerns with it.
“I look at this as being right in the middle of a woodlot. Pigs are very destructive,” McKay said. “Once you start opening this up, others will follow. At some point, we have to put our food down and say enough is enough. This could be the start of turning this area into marginal farmland for grazing for pigs.”
