News Release from MPP

NEWS RELEASE

Randy Pettapiece, MPP

Perth-Wellington

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 5, 2012

Province must listen to Highway 7/8 concerns, says Pettapiece

(Queen’s Park) – Perth-Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece spoke again today in the Ontario legislature about the future of Highway 7/8.

Pettapiece made a statement to call the government’s attention to their project. He wanted to stress the need for the Minister of Transportation to show he’s listening to the wide-ranging concerns that his constituents have expressed. The following is the text of his statement:

“Many of my constituents have concerns about the government’s plans for Highway 7 and 8. It matters especially to those who live along the route between New Hamburg and Stratford.

“Here are just a few of the issues that matter to them: heritage preservation, safety considerations, the environment, regional traffic flow, movement of agricultural equipment, the impact on residents and businesses in Shakespeare, fair consideration of property values, among many more concerns.

“These issues matter to them, and they matter to me.

“In December, I requested a comprehensive briefing by Ministry of Transportation officials on the plan for Highway 7 and 8. In January, that briefing took place. I expressed many of the views and concerns I’ve heard from constituents. In February, I met with ABC – the Agriculture Business Communities Group.

“In March, I attended Perth County Council’s joint meeting with the councils of Perth East and Perth South. I listened as councillors spoke up with tough questions for ministry staff and AECOM staff.

“Here’s what I’m asking of the Minister of Transportation: He needs to listen carefully to my constituents’ views. The minister needs to do his homework. He needs to show he’s listening, and he needs to show us that our concerns are being addressed.

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker.”

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Randy Pettapiece, MPP

Phone 519-272-0660 / 1-800-461-9701

Email randy.pettapiececo@pc.ola.org

ABC sends out Press Release

Agriculture Business Community, Perth East, Perth South, Wilmot West

PRESS RELEASE


The Agriculture Business Community, Perth East, Perth South, Wilmot West is composed of approximately 300 members in the 3 townships who are or could be impacted by any future road development as proposed by the MTO and the Hwy 7 and 8 Study Team. At the recent Public Information Meetings (PIC) in Shakespeare, (Jan. 17th and 18th) many of our members were alarmed at the amount of agricultural land that will be lost to highway development if this proposal goes through. Others are concerned about the impact on century farm homes.

From our initial ABC member debriefing to review feedback from the January PIC we were disturbed by the number of different answers given to the same questions by the MTO and their consultants. This is generating confusion and misinformation among members.

ABC members are concerned about the producers directly in the path of this proposed route as well as the farm businesses that rely upon access, both north and south crossing Highway 7&8 and those using sections of the existing route to move equipment, forage, manure and animals across land holdings that contribute to the farm business unit.

The community is being asked to comment on this proposal without being provided with information on what north/south links will remain open to farm equipment and the nature of these crossings be they overpasses or underpasses. The design decisions will presumably take more land from agriculture.

All livestock producers within the proposed route would be at risk of being non-compliance of the Nutrient Management Act. This Act is designed to protect all of our water supply and farmers presently carry all the costs to be in compliance.

While the MTO has indicated that they recognize the Act in some respects, individual farmers and businesses should not have to accept this loss or cost on behalf of our society.

Also to date, in spite of repeated requests, the MTO has not agreed to provide for any engineering or oversight for the drains both private and municipal that run beside and through this area. They have been told repeated by ABC that their drainage information is a decade old and yet they have moved forward with recommendations based on it. Individual owners of properties and Municipalities should not be forced to accept this societal cost, either.

ABC continues to contact members and review Report H to try to assess the impact of the proposed route on the agricultural business of the three townships. We will present a final report to the MTO by their March 25th deadline.

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.

ABC Press Release for Feb. 12, 2009

Highway 7 and 8 Corridor Study

On February 6, 2009 the Agricultural Business Communities (ABC) of Perth East, Perth South and Wilmot West submitted a second Brief to the MTO. The Brief makes 15 recommendations from immediate to long terms directions, including our disapproval of the selection criteria used for the development of the Short List of Corridor Alternatives presented at three Public Information Centers in November and December 2008.


The ABC recommends immediate collaboration on the development of the traffic volume numbers that are driving this process as well as the need for paid professional help to municipalities and affected landowners when it comes to the drainage implications of the chosen route. We also recommend a new form of public presentation for future planned events.


The ABC wants the plan to recognize agriculture as a business, protect prime agricultural land (Canada Land Inventory Class 1, 2 3) for the business of agriculture, minimize the impact on agricultural business enterprises, acknowledge and protect our rural heritage and for the MTO to assume financial responsibility for all drainage costs of highway development before and after construction


The ABC believes the present corridors are based on subjective and questionable data and a weighting system with flagrant biases against the agricultural sector. Information on heritage buildings and landscapes is also biased in favour of the urban environment.


Furthermore, municipal and agricultural drainage and associated costs are missing in the consultant’s list of criteria. The taxpayers will be paying for the road development. Individual taxpayers along the chosen route should not also be asked to carry the financial liability resulting from highway development.




The ABC group formed in the summer of 2008 and works on behalf of over 300 property owners to ensure adequate input into the planning of the Highway 7 and 8 corridor.

ABC Press Release for Nov. 18, 2008

Highway 7 and 8 Corridor Study

The Agricultural Business Communities of Perth East, Perth South and Wilmot West held an information meeting at the Shakespeare Optimist Hall on Tuesday November 18 to bring the community together to discuss the consultant’s plans for Highway 7 and 8 and to prepare landowners for the next step in the planning process.

This volunteer group formed in August and works on behalf of over 300 property owners to ensure adequate input into the 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 planning process by educating the consultants about the nature of agriculture. Previous community meetings in the summer brought together 250 concerned individuals.

The three Agricultural Business Committees are disappointed that in this day and age any arm of the provincial government or consultants working on their behalf could fail so dramatically to understand agriculture as anything but a business. The Phase 1 reports showed almost complete disregard for the local economy, businesses and community resulting from highway development through agricultural lands. The draconian, inaccurate and outdated methodology used to address agriculture must be changed.

The Agricultural Business Communities documented initial concerns from the community and submitted a Questions document in early September. A disappointing response was received November 7.

On September 30 a Brief was delivered to the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) identifying several inadequacies in the Phase 1 Consultant Reports. The Brief outlined the nature of agriculture within their study area and provided an accurate understanding of the losses and costs if they proceeded with their misguided options. We have not yet received a response to the Brief.

The Consulting Team claims to be receptive to our participation in the planning process and we feel we have experienced some success influencing the study approach

We will continue to work on behalf of our community and our rural business owners until this project is finalized.