County formally approves New Official Plan

The 800-page document will guide growth and development

Brant County over the next 30 years

By CasandraTurnbull

A strenuous four-year process ended this week as County Council formally approved the New Official Plan (OP). Now it goes to the province for review and approval.

The county’s strategic priority is sustainable and managed growth that protects and enhances our identity, while adhering to provincial conformity – a tricky balance This new plan replaces the previous one, which was adopted in 2012, and no longer met the needs of this growing municipality

Feedback from residents suggests our communities need to create a growth management strategy; improve housing affordability; improve walkability; maintain small-town character; protect farmland and natural areas; solve parking and traffic issues; improve rural infrastructure and add local jobs. Analytics show we have an excess of residential lands and a shortfall of employment lands designated to meet our expected growth.

A draft of the OP was sent to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing in August of 2021. It wasn’t until December 2022 that the County received word that the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing would not provide official comments on the draft plan and that the County should proceed with plans to adopt a new OP for the Minister’s approval After some updates to the draft OP, centred around the growth plan, participially how the county will align with Bill 23: More Homes Built Faster Act, the plan was presented to residents during an open house inApril.

A quick overview of the New Official Plan shows the county will grow to a minimum of 59,000 residents from today’s 40,000 Employment will nearly double from 15,000 to 26,000. If all the lands within the settlement area boundaries are utilized, the county has the potential to grow to 75,000 residents by 2051. Paris, the fastest growing town in the municipality, will grow to a minimum of 26,000 but if all available lands are developed, has the potential to grow to 32,000.

Ward 3 Councillor John Bell said this week in an online social media post that ‘we need to plan not for the minimum but for what might be a more realistic view of growth – it impacts our thinking on infrastructure, recreation and much more.’

The plan encourages the development of all housing types, including smaller attainable and affordable properties, which is an important focus for councillors this term, despite pushback from the provincial government Bell went on to state,