SELF-SERVING LOBBY GROUP CONTINUES IT'S HARASSMENT OF RURAL RESIDENTS & DESTRUCTION OF OUR JOINT NATURAL RESOURCES

Yes I am talking about gravel pits. Thnk about it. How is it that new pits open every year? Applications for zone changes to Township municipal governments never seem to end and I'm talking about Woolwich Township primarily although certainly Wilmot and North Dumfries have their share. At the moment there is a battle near Maryhill (Woolwich) over a proposed pit that is opposed by local neighbours who call themselves the Hopewell Creek Ratepayers Association. There is also a proposed gravel pit in Wilmot that was discussed in a Waterloo Region Record article on March 13/21 titled "Concern heating up over proposed gravel pit". This gravel pit is being referred to as the Hallman Pit. The location is next to Shingletown which is less than ten kilometres west of Kitchener. .................................................................................................................... In a nutshell the provincial Aggregate Resources Act has been called a cudgel by opponents to the proliferation of never ending and unnecessary gravel pits throughout Waterloo Region. At the municipal level, the Planning Act allows municipalities to make amendments to their Official Plans (OP) including zone changes, below groundwater level pits and or expanding the aggregate extraction area outside the already designated area. ................................................................................................................. Part of the proposed Hallman Pit is in a groundwater recharge area. It is also within one kilometre of two municipal wells that contribute to the Region of waterloo drinking water supply. These two wells are named K50 and K51 and are described here in last Thursday's (March 18/21) posting. These wells can not only contribute water to the Mannheim Treatment Plant (Kitchener) but also can supplement water in New Hamburg and Baden which is crucual as they had wells shut down for a large portion of 2020 (see March 18/21). ........................................................................................................... Unfortunately I expect that we will once more see that regional "protections" of our groundwater and drinking water are subjective and illusory. Afterall the aggregate (gravel) industry are donors to our major provincial political parties and they aren't giving them money for nothing in return.