GRAVEL PITS - THE STICK VERSUS THE CARROT

Early last summer the Woolwich Observer published an Editorial titled "New legislation, but no details on gravel pit changes". As the title implies our municipalities are controlled in their decisions via third parties. The amount of money via a per tonne of gravel extracted is a pittance which according to the Observer doesn't cover road repairs with the increased heavy truck traffic. Hence not much of a carrot. The stick of course is both the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) and the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). The MNR has the reputation of being the defender of operators not of Ontario citizens. The OMB has a long standing track record of ignoring local decisions ie. municipal, in favour of developers. Both these bodies are provincial ones and of course are controlled by the provincial cabinet. There are far too many old gravel pits here in Woolwich still not remediated and as we learned at the Hunder Pit OMB hearing a few years back; even when done, soil remediation never restores the soil to its' pre-existing condition.

The Observer advises us that the provincial "...Aggregate Resources Act is practically a cudgel...". Opponents including various municipalities trying to respect the wishes of their constituents suggest that the MNR's enforcement of what feeble rules do exist, is inadequate. Currently both the OMB and the Aggregate Resources Act are being re-examined. Both are long overdue. Perhaps a highly unpopular provincial government is citizens best hope for improvements to legislation and practices which have long adversely affected rural or semi rural homeowners.