There has been a fair amount of concern with the Lambton County Draft Official Plan recently communicated to the LFA recently.
Creating an Official Plan is a formidable job, and we commend city staff and the committee for their work. The LFA has been offering comments to the county throughout this process, and still has concerns.
If you would like to view the OP, and submit comments you can do so by reaching out to your Mayor or County Council.
Statement:
The Lambton Federation of Agriculture has heard from its members that there are concerns with the new Draft Official Plan for Lambton County. Lambton Federation of Agriculture helps to develop and consolidate farmer opinion for the promotion of any activity within Lambton County and to help improve the welfare of the individual farmer and the farming industry, as well as bringing the viewpoints and concerns of the membership to the Ontario Federation of Agriculture for policy development and action, and in turn, to interpret Ontario Federation of Agriculture policy so developed to all members in Lambton.
The LFA has been reviewing and providing feedback to the county since the first new draft was created, and has sought the advice of OFA’s Senior Farm Policy Analyst Mr. Peter Jeffery on each draft.
The board has heard concern from the members on the Natural Heritage section, and on the loss of agricultural land. The board’s mandate is to attend to agricultural concerns, so anything outside of that area was not addressed.
This will be the first update for Lambton County since 1998. Many of the areas and policies are directed by the province of Ontario, and the county has little say over these sections. Concerning the Natural Heritage section and the land maps attached to the draft, very little has changed since the 1998 Official Plan. Additionally, at no point is the word ‘expropriate’ used in the document. After extensive discussion, research and correspondence with Lambton County and OFA, the board feels this section has no issues or red flags, and encourages members concerned to read it in its entirety and not rely on hearsay.
The second area of concern is with the loss of agricultural land, particularly in Plympton Wyoming (Amendment #40 for PW) which will be carried through to the Lambton Official Plan. This is concerning the removal of the ‘restricted agricultural’ designation to ‘Lakeshore Residential’ on 1870 acres of land in the lakefront area, allowing for development of lands for residential use.
The LFA continues to discuss this issue with county staff and councilors.
We thank the Planning and Development staff for hosting meetings, answering question and sharing their knowledge, as well as the Committee members for dedicating their time to such an involved and difficult task.