|
|
|
Publications
Status Report on the Implementation
of the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan: Implications for
the Greenbelt Plan
Printer-friendly version
(Landscaped) [3.6 MB]
Web-viewing version (Lower
resolution) [576 KB]
Four Year Anniversary
April 22, 2006 marks four years since the Minister of Municipal
Affairs and Housing established the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation
Plan (ORMCP) as Ontario Regulation 140/02 under the Oak Ridges
Moraine Conservation Act, 2001. The Act became law in December
2001 by an all-party unanimous vote in the Ontario Legislature.
Oak Ridges Moraine and Greenbelt Plans
The ORMCP is a regional conservation-based planning model, heralded
as a victory by the environmental community and general public.
It was further embedded into public policy with the enactment
of the Greenbelt Act, 2005. The Greenbelt Act is unique, knitting
together three distinct socio-ecological regions under one piece
of legislation: the Oak Ridges Moraine, the Niagara Escarpment
and 400,000 hectares of agricultural lands and natural areas
of the Protected Countryside. This resulted in the establishment
of a permanent, secured and well-defined greenspace framework
within one of the fastest growing urban areas in North America.
While the Niagara Escarpment Plan is administered by the Niagara
Escarpment Commission (a provincially-funded and administered
agency), the ORMCP and Protected Countryside policies are implemented
by municipalities through the adoption and approval of official
plans and zoning by-laws. Critics of this model argue that a
provincial plan requires provincial oversight to ensure the
actions of municipalities and landowners are implementing the
intent of these plans in a consistent and effective manner.
In the absence of such oversight, the public needs assurances
and confidence that the 32 municipalities in the Oak Ridges
Moraine Plan Area and the additional 29 within the Protected
Countryside are consistently and effectively administering these
provincial plans.
Community Role in Land Use Planning:
Monitoring the Moraine Project
This Status Report is the first of an annual series of report
cards intended to highlight the successes and challenges of
ORMCP implementation. This report is designed and maintained
by the Monitoring the Moraine (MTM) project, a partnership between
Citizens’ Environment Watch, STORM Coalition (Save the
Oak Ridges Moraine) and Centre for Community Mapping. The MTM
project aims to facilitate a more active and engaged role for
citizens in provincial and municipal land use planning and environmental
protection of the moraine. The goal of the MTM project is to
design and implement an integrated ecological and policy monitoring
program for the Oak Ridges Moraine. The moraine is well positioned
to showcase innovative approaches to sustainability and the
role of science, information technology and data management
in public policy decision-making. The project partners expect
that the lessons learned on the Oak Ridges Moraine will be applied
to other areas of the Greenbelt and beyond. Community-based
monitoring is an area of innovation that has general application
to land use planning across Ontario.
In preparing this Status Report, the historic four-year milestone
was chosen as the cut-off for data reporting. The good news
is that by this date the required conformity activities, including
official plan and zoning by-law amendments, were largely completed;
however, deadlines were missed and certain provincial obligations
have yet to be fulfilled.
Return to Top
Community
Workshop Proceedings [750 KB]
In late September 2005, a series of “Monitoring the Moraine
Community Workshops” were held across the Oak Ridges Moraine.
These workshops were organized by the Monitoring the Moraine
(MTM) Project Partners: Citizens’ Environment Watch (CEW),
Save the Oak Ridges Moraine (STORM) Coalition, and the Centre
for Community Mapping (COMAP). They selected the following communities
to geographically represent the moraine and to avoid overlaps
with identified areas (Conservation Priority
Areas or CPAs) where concentrated conservation efforts are and
will be focused by Conservation Authorities: Pottageville, Lemonville,
Centreton, and Orono.
The purpose of these workshops was to:
• Begin the process of engaging local citizens to record
local knowledge;
• Start to build a common community map as the basis for
a Community- Based Strategic Monitoring Plan;
• Set in place procedures to make local knowledge relevant
for decision- making.
In total, over seventy-five people attended the workshops. Each
meeting was composed of a short open-house, an overview of the
MTM project, a question period, an interactive session to complete
a "Community Mapping Exercise" and a plenary to discuss
the mapping exercise and provide information about the next
steps.
Return to Top
|
|
