February 28, 2005
Building the Greenbelt
The greenbelt is 1.8 million acres of land stretching from the Niagara Peninsula in the southwest to Rice Lake in the east. It includes some of the most threatened environmentally sensitive and agricultural lands – protecting them from major urban development, while meeting the needs of growing communities in the Golden Horseshoe. The greenbelt includes the 800,000 acres of land protected by the Niagara Escarpment Plan and the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan. It also includes 1 million newly protected acres known as the protected countryside.
The greenbelt is vital to maintaining quality of life for people living and working in the Golden Horseshoe, where the population is expected to increase by about four million, for a total population of about 11 million, by 2031.
Defining the Greenbelt’s Boundaries
To define the Greenbelt’s boundaries, a ‘systems approach’, a well-established method of land-use planning and analysis, was used. Municipalities, the development sector and the ministries of Natural Resources and Agriculture and Food use similar methods when drafting official plans, proposals and other land-use planning related documents.
The Greenbelt’s Systems
Generally, the Greenbelt’s systems follow existing rural, agricultural and open space designations found in local, regional and county official plans. They build on the systems defined in the Niagara Escarpment Plan and the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan.
- The Natural Heritage System – Natural-heritage and water-resource systems necessary to maintain biological and geological diversity, natural functions, and indigenous species and ecosystems. About 535,000 acres, or over 50 per cent, of the Protected Countryside are included in the Natural Heritage System.
- The Agricultural System – Prime agricultural land, specialty-crop land and other rural areas in the Golden Horseshoe have been threatened by urbanization. The agricultural lands of the Protected Countryside were identified through the Land Evaluation and Area Review system (LEAR), an approach used by many planning authorities throughout the country.
- Settlement Areas – The Protected Countryside includes a number of vibrant communities. Settlement Areas include land designated as towns, villages and hamlets in official plans and documents from municipalities and the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal.
Balancing Natural, Social and Economic Needs
The Greenbelt Plan balances the protection of greenspace and support for vibrant rural communities in the greenbelt. The plan contains provisions for a wide range of uses, including the permission for existing uses to continue and expand, as the plan allows.
The greenbelt will protect environmentally sensitive and important areas and agricultural land while supporting agriculture, providing opportunities for recreation and natural resource extraction, and allowing infrastructure necessary to support vibrant rural communities in the greenbelt, where it meets the criteria of required environmental assessments.
The Greenbelt into the Future
The Greenbelt Act, 2005 provides for a 10-year review of the greenbelt plan to assess its effectiveness and make changes, as necessary. Boundary revisions could be part of the 10-year review. The act also allows for boundary amendments to add areas to the greenbelt, but it does not allow the total greenbelt area to be reduced in size.
Growth Beyond the Greenbelt
The provincial government has undertaken a number of initiatives key to planning for the expected population growth in the Golden Horseshoe and beyond. Two initiatives in particular will help the province and municipalities plan more intelligently for population growth and economic expansion in south-central Ontario.
Bill 136, the proposed Places to Grow Act, 2004, would plan for growth and development outside of the Greenbelt Area, focussing key resources to curb sprawl and encourage more efficient urban development. The newly revised Provincial Policy Statement also includes enhanced policies for managing growth and promoting efficient land-use and development patterns.
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Contacts:
Patti Munce
Minister’s Office
416-585-6333
Victor Doyle
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
416-585-6014
www.greenbelt.ontario.ca