Stop Sprawl Campaigns

Background

The Province of Ontario has ordered municipalities to plan for growth to 2051 that will result in huge population increases in the Lake Simcoe area and related environmental impacts, most notably loss of farmland and increased salt, stormwater runoff, and potentially sewage from new development.

There are good and bad ways to plan.

Good planning should result in better health and environmental outcomes, better access to public transit and affordable housing near transit, and should result in more equitable and vibrant communities with quality greenspace for all. Ideally, we would like to hear people advocating for a future that is more sustainable and equitable, from a wide variety of perspectives.

This is what we’re worried about: the Big Sprawl (Source: Environmental Defence and Yours to Protect)

Local organizations

We are working on the ground in York and Durham Regions and Simcoe County on their Municipal Comprehensive Reviews (growth planning). The province has ordered growth that would DOUBLE the watershed’s population by 2051. We don’t think the lake can handle that, so we have been focused on these Regional Official Plan updates, where decisions are made about where exactly to put the growth.

After a year of working on Simcoe, Durham and York, we decided to focus our efforts where no organized campaign existed and created Stop Sprawl York Region. Meeting biweekly to build community around sustainability and sense in planning York Region, we have certainly brought much-needed scrutiny to York Region Council. One of our main concerns is the use of the Bradford Bypass to justify sprawl, particularly in East Gwillimbury, where the former Chair of the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority is overseeing the biggest sprawl agenda we have seen in Southern Ontario. Join us at on Facebook and Twitter.