After a year-long Consolidated Board hearing that resulted in two of the three presiding members ruling in favour of its proposed expansion, the fate of the Walker Aggregates Duntroon quarry will now be decided in the courts.
The Niagara Escarpment Commission, in a 9-3 decision last Thursday, voted to endorse the dissenting opinion of Board member Robert Wright, officially requesting a judical review of the Board’s decision.
The courts will now rule on the primacy of the Niagara Escarpment Plan (NEP) as it relates to the Walker application and will determine whether or not the Board made errors in law by failing to apply the NEP and give the appropriate protection to the Niagara Escarpment’s most sensitive natural features. In his dissenting opinion, Wright felt that his Board colleagues had incorrectly given the Provincial Policy Statement more weight than the NEP, and in so doing had set “a perilous course for development in the NEP area.”
The Clearview Community Coalition (CCC), who joined the NEC in opposing the expansion in front of the board, applauded the NEC’s decision in a press release after the meeting.
“Today’s vote was a milestone,” said the CCC’s Janet Gillham. “It’s evident that the Commission stands firmly behind the NEP.”
Joining the CCC in calling for the NEC to push for a judicial review were several groups and municipalities, including the City of Burlington, the Region of Halton, Environmental Defence, Protecting Escarpment Rural Land (PERL), PitSense Niagara Escarpment Group Inc., People for Responsible Escarpment Development Caledon Inc. (REDC), the Blue Mountain Watershed Trust Foundation, the Nature League (incorporated as the Senior League Endowment Society of Collingwood), and the Oakville Green Conservation Association.
The following three Commissioners opposed the motion: Moreen Miller, president of Ontario Stone, Sand and Gravel; Shawn Davidson, municipal representative for Clearview Township and Simcoe County; and John Riley, Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation. Chair Don Scott and Grey County representative Paul McQueen declared a conflict.
