{"id":633734,"date":"2022-05-02T13:15:04","date_gmt":"2022-05-02T13:15:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/environmentaldefence.ca\/?p=33332"},"modified":"2022-05-02T13:15:04","modified_gmt":"2022-05-02T13:15:04","slug":"environmental-groups-say-enough-is-enough-its-time-to-make-building-new-superhighways-in-the-greenbelt-illegal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/05\/02\/environmental-groups-say-enough-is-enough-its-time-to-make-building-new-superhighways-in-the-greenbelt-illegal\/","title":{"rendered":"Environmental Groups say: Enough is Enough. It\u2019s time to make building new Superhighways in the Greenbelt illegal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Toronto | Traditional territories of the Huron-Wendat, the Anishnaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Chippewas and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation \u2013 New multi-lane superhighways threaten the farms, forests and wetlands of the Greenbelt and need to be banned to protect Ontario\u2019s water, air, food, wildlife, access to nature and our climate.<\/p>\n

This is why five organizations are calling on all political parties in Ontario\u2019s June 2nd election to commit to making a legislative amendment to the Greenbelt Act<\/em> to ban new multi-lane highways from being built through the Greenbelt.<\/p>\n

A new map (see below) shows that the planned Highways 413, Bradford Bypass (Holland Marsh Highway) and 404 extension northward up the east side of Lake Simcoe would directly destroy over 2000 acres of Greenbelt. These highways would also increase pressure to allow new industrial, commercial and residential development along them, while also crossing and polluting hundreds of waterways, fragmenting forests and farms, filling in wetlands and creating a death trap for many wildlife species.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ontario government\u2019s current push to build Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass underscores the need to ban forever these 1950s style developments,\u201d said Tim Gray, Executive Director of Environmental Defence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe newly revealed plans for the Highway 404 extension make clear the stark choices we face in Ontario between a livable future and a devastated landscape dominated by gridlocked highways,\u201d added Katie Krelove of the Wilderness Committee.<\/p>\n

The Greenbelt Act<\/em> currently allows for corridors for \u201cinfrastructure\u201d which include highways. This needs to be changed to make clear that new destructive multi-lane highways are permanently prohibited in the Greenbelt.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll available research shows that building more highways increases traffic through a process called induced demand and attracts sprawl,\u201d said Margaret Prophet, Executive Director of the Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition. \u201cAllowing these types of projects in the Greenbelt is a death by a thousand cuts and will change the Greenbelt from something that is supposed to be permanently protected to a land bank for developers and corporate interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Greenbelt is helping to keep Lake Simcoe cleaner by protecting the land on the east side of the lake from development,\u201d said Claire Malcolmson, Executive Director of the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition. \u201cPunching highways through it weakens its ability to do that, and will add more salt to our delicate freshwater lake.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is time for our political leaders to step up and commit to stopping these proposed highways forever. Investing in public transit would have a far lighter impact on farmland, water systems, natural areas and wildlife,\u201d said Caroline Schultz, Ontario Nature\u2019s Executive Director.<\/p>\n

Resources:<\/p>\n

Map of the three proposed highways in the Greenbelt<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Greenbelt<\/p>\n

Chart comparing the three proposed highways in the Greenbelt<\/a><\/p>\n

More about Highway 413\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

More about the Bradford Bypass<\/a> (Holland Marsh Highway)<\/p>\n

ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca<\/a>): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.<\/p>\n

About the SIMCOE COUNTY GREENBELT COALITION (www.simcoecountygreenbelt.ca<\/a>): The Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition is a diverse coalition of 35 organizations from across Simcoe County and the province calling on local and provincial leaders to better protect our water resources, green spaces and farmland through smart growth and sustainable policies including expansion of the Greenbelt into Simcoe County.<\/p>\n

About the RESCUE LAKE SIMCOE COALITION (www.rescuelakesimcoe.org<\/a>) is a lake-wide member-based organization that provides leadership and inspires people to take action to protect Lake Simcoe.<\/p>\n

About ONTARIO NATURE (ontarionature.org<\/a>): Ontario Nature protects wild species and wild spaces through conservation, education, and public engagement. A charitable organization, Ontario Nature represents more than 30,000 members and supporters,\u202f\u202fand more than 155 member groups across Ontario.<\/p>\n

About WILDERNESS COMMITTEE (wildernesscommittee.org<\/a>):\u00a0 Wilderness Committee is a charitable organization dedicated to protecting nature, defending wildlife and fighting for a healthy climate<\/p>\n

– 30 \u2013<\/p>\n

For more information please contact:<\/p>\n

Allen Braude, Environmental Defence, abraude@environmentaldefence.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

Claire Malcolmson, Executive Director, RLSC, rescuelakesimcoecoalition@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Margaret Prophet, Executive Director, SCGC, margaret@simcoecountygreenbelt.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

John Hassell, Director of communications and Engagement, Ontario Nature,\u00a0 johnh@ontarionature.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Katie Krelove, Ontario Campaigner, Wilderness Committee, katie@wildernesscommittee.org<\/a><\/p>\n

The post Environmental Groups say: Enough is Enough. It’s time to make building new Superhighways in the Greenbelt illegal<\/a> appeared first on Environmental Defence<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on Environmental Defence<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Toronto | Traditional territories of the Huron-Wendat, the Anishnaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Chippewas and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation \u2013 New multi-lane superhighways threaten…Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

The post Environmental Groups say: Enough is Enough. It\u2019s time to make building new Superhighways in the Greenbelt illegal<\/a> appeared first on Environmental Defence<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":717,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[529,24076],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633734"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/717"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633734"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":633735,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633734\/revisions\/633735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}