An array of speakers stepped forward at a public meeting  to tell officials the draft plan risks converting too much prime agricultural land, endangers the small-town character of hamlets and villages and fails to provide adequate jobs and housing in established communities.

The statutory meeting  was held to give the public a chance to comment on the strategic planning document that guides how the county will grow over the next 25 years.

Two weeks ago, the county held a series of open houses to make its case for the plan, which recommended two employment nodes on Highway 400 at County Road 88 in Bradford West Gwillimbury and at Innisfil Beach Road, as well as directing population and employment growth to BWG, Innisfil, New Tecumseth and Wasaga Beach.

County planning staff will take the public comments into consideration as they make final revisions before presenting it to county council for approval in late September or October.

Bond Head-area farmer Jean Keffer took issue with the county’s plan to create the highway employment nodes.

“I’m concerned about the potential loss of prime agricultural in the county,” she said. The county’s mapping reveals those nodes do contain top-quality farmland.

Further, she noted, there’s a lot of vacant good-quality industrial land in Bradford West Gwillimbury.

“My concern is that the town has redesignated (several hundred acres) to residential, but they turn around and want to redesignate prime agricultural land (to replace it). Will the county ensure that industry would be located on appropriate land within settlement boundaries or will you allow willy-nilly development on prime agricultural land?,” questioned Keffer.

Colgan resident Sharon Yorvanoff said the county’s plan to direct population to south Simcoe communities risks the environment.

“The plan has ignored the needs of people in New Tecumseth and Adjala-Tosorontio, yet we are expected to absorb a huge number in terms of population. This leaves us in a very vulnerable position,” she said.

“We’re asking for a moratorium on development in south Simcoe until comprehensive mapping of the Oak Ridges Moraine has been done by the province.

The Town of Midland continues to criticize the county’s employment plan. Planner Andrea Rabbitts stressed the county’s population and employment allocations do not recognize, let alone support, Midland’s role as the urban and employment centre in North Simcoe.

“The town’s strong commercial base in its downtown core and along the County Road 93 commercial corridor, along with its significant industrial base make Midland the central employment node in the north part of the county. Midland is a complete community with a strong economic base, and if planned properly, has a bright and progressive future …

“Unfortunately, based on our preliminary review, the town finds that the proposed county plan does not support this vision and does not provide the goals, objectives, policies and guidelines that will ensure that Midland fulfills this role.”

Creemore Residents’ Association spokesperson Valerie Dyer said her group thinks the county plan fails to effectively manage growth.

“If people wanted a true urban area, they’d live in Barrie or Toronto, and not in the Village of Creemore,” she said.

“The county OP should not exclude seasonal residents. The growth in Creemore and south in Mulmur and around Lake Simcoe is driven by part-time residents. We do live here, and need services and we do pay taxes and should be considered.  

“Clearview needs more jobs. We would like to see residential growth that ties with jobs. We don’t need more bedroom communities to serve the GTA,” she said, noting that the Clearview has one job for every eight residents in the county’s proposed plan. “That’s not fair or right. We need county council and Clearview council to support us and create jobs.”