Recent provincial legislation intended to speed up home construction is causing problems for local conservation authorities.
Rhonda Bateman, Chief Administrative Officer of Lower Trent Conservation, shared some of the troubles that Bill 23: More homes Built Faster Act has caused her organization and how it affects their ability to work with the municipal government during a delegation to Quinte West council on Wednesday.
Several parts of Bill 23 took effect in January, including a ban on conservation authorities offering consultation on planning proposals or application. Conservation authorities can still contribute with assessing flood hazards and water quality, but are unable to perform other previously provided consultations including impacts on the natural environment and species at risk.
“We’re not to review or comment on planning proposals or applications associated with natural heritage matters,” said Bateman. “Any applications we received before January 1, we followed through and did the job that we would have been doing prior to the end of the year.”
Conservation authorities were also instructed to identify lands they control that would be suitable for development. Bateman said that the requirements to be suitable for development haven’t been made fully clear, and points out that much of the land managed by Lower Trent Conservation rests on floodplains that aren’t safe for building or are active wetlands.
“Most of our properties are either floodplain hazard lands, wetlands, or they’ve been already subjected to restoration works. So that would limit development options,” said Bateman
Bateman also noted that the province imposed a freeze on any fees for services the authority provides, preventing them from changing them to reflect what they are and aren’t allowed to do.
Council accepted the delegation, but took no other action at this time.
