If there is one thing that underlines the adversarial nature of gravel pit applications, it’s this — four out of the five potential Ontario Municipal Board hearings the township is facing this year are related to gravel pit applications.
Gravel pits are almost always contentious. There are very few township residents who would actually like to live next to a gravel pit. Even if the pit is a relatively minor one, there are still numerous potential problems that can occur — ranging from a higher frequency of truck traffic, to noise, dust and air-quality issues, not to mention the loss of viable farmland and the potential threat to the environment.
Yet, we know that gravel is a necessity, an item that is needed for nearly all of our amenities, from the roads and bridges that we use daily, to the foundations for the homes in the subdivisions that are being built to accommodate our growing population.
The entire process surrounding gravel pit applications, however, does little to bring these two opposing needs together.
Rightly or wrongly, the majority of residents who end up opposing gravel pit applications feel the odds are stacked against them — that, ultimately, provincial policy tends to favour gravel pits over the concerns of residents.
During the provincial election campaign, the Ontario Liberals made a promise to review the Aggregate Resources Act, looking at ways to protect the environment and prime agricultural land.
The move was spearheaded by then-MPP Leeanna Pendergast, who indicated she was looking for a “rational and sane” approach to the concerns that residents have about the aggregate industry.
While Pendergast ultimately lost her seat in the provincial election, the Liberal party had endorsed her call for action — action that is sorely needed.
Recently, current Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Michael Harris called on the provincial government to fulfill its election promise, and review the ARA.
Ultimately, this may have little impact on the local gravel pit applications that seem destined to appear before the Ontario Municipal Board.
But if even a few changes could be made to make it easier for both sides to have their say, and to ensure that the concerns of residents are granted equal consideration with the province’s need for gravel, the review would be well worth any time spent on it.
Otherwise, we will continue to see residents and municipalities pitted (pun intended) against gravel pit applicants, with the only winners in the process being the lawyers hired to work at the OMB hearings to come.