ABC Press Release for Sept. 9, 2009

MTO Answers to Farmers Over Highway 7/8 Corridor Study

The Agricultural Business Communities (ABC) of Perth East, Perth South and Wilmot West held an open information 'drive-shed' meeting on Wednesday, September 9, 2009, at the farm of Marg and John Van Nes. The community convened to discuss the consultant’s preferred corridor plan for Highway 7 and 8 (presented at three Public Information Centres this summer) as well as to inform landowners of the next steps in the planning process.

ABC is committed to ensuring that future highway 7/8 development proceeds in a timely fashion, minimizes the loss of high quality farmland and mitigates disruptions to agricultural businesses. The consultants and MTO have generally been receptive to our issues and to our participation in the process.

At Wednesday's meeting, the Ministry of Transportation’s study consultants made a brief presentation and then the Chair opened the meeting to questions. Issues that surfaced in this discussion included; general concerns about the long-term validity of traffic numbers on which the whole process is structured; questions about minimum distances the Ministry may need to follow for house and building set-backs; problems with excessive slopes on highway shoulders and the danger this presents when moving top heavy grain wagons; safety and access concerns in and around the New Hamburg to Shakespeare portion of the highway; and finally, the community wanted to know about the possibility that some portions of the road may be improved sooner than by 2031. ABC will continue working with its members to address these issues and others.

ABC regrets that the consulting study team continues to produce reports that sometimes utilize incorrect property information stemming from previous phases of the Environmental Assessment. Wednesday’s meeting provided an opportunity for property owners to make the highway 7/8 study team aware of corrected information regarding drainage and property use. These elements will inform the actual route selection in the next phase of the study this fall and ABC encourages all its members to continue to submit corrections and amendments to available property information in order to ensure sound decisions.

ABC is an all-volunteer group formed in August 2008 that works on behalf of over 300 farm and rural residential property owners to ensure that both adequate and informed input will be available for planning of the Highway 7 and 8 corridor. The group has two goals: we act to inform rural landowners within the study area about the planning process, and we act to influence the process by educating the consultants about the nature of modern agriculture and rural heritage.

ABC will continue to work on behalf of our community and our rural business owners and residents both while the environmental study is being finalized and then beyond to the road's construction.