TORONTO — Ontario environmental organizations announced their support today for landmark reforms being proposed to the province's land-use planning laws under Bill 51 — Planning and Conservation Land Statute Law Amendment Act . The groups have filed submissions arguing that the proposed reforms are an important step forward in making land-use planning in Ontario more responsive to the needs of municipalities and in helping create more environmentally sustainable, vibrant communities.
In written submissions to Queen's Park, the Canadian Environmental Law Association, Environmental Defence, Ontario Nature, the Pembina Institute and Sierra Legal Defence Fund emphasized that the bill has the potential to dramatically improve land-use planning in Ontario, but identify several areas that still require further consideration, including reforms to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearing process.
"While Bill 51 represents a big step forward in reforming Ontario's land-use planning system, further reforms are necessary to in order to make the OMB hearing process more accessible, fair, efficient and accountable," said Sierra Legal lawyer Paula Boutis. "The OMB needs to rule fairly and in the best interests of the community," said Rick Smith, Executive Director of Environmental Defence.
The groups highlighted several improvements to the Planning Act through Bill 51, including enhanced public consultation for municipal official plans and a requirement that municipalities review their official plans every five years. Bill 51 also ensures that municipal council and OMB decisions are consistent with provincial policies and plans at the time decisions are made (rather than those when development applications are filed) and promotes sustainable design of buildings and neighbourhoods.
"The bill will allow municipalities to set energy efficiency and other environmental sustainability design requirements in buildings and even entire neighbourhoods. This will be an important tool in building a 'conservation culture' in Ontario," said Mark Winfield of the Pembina Institute.
The groups also highlighted three areas of concern. They argue that Bill 51 may exclude or severely limit participation by community and public interest groups in municipal and OMB decision-making processes and that the process by which OMB members are selected is in dire need of an overhaul. They said it also fails to provide funding for intervenors in OMB appeals, which puts citizens groups at a serious disadvantage compared to developers and government agencies who have significant financial resources.
"Bill 51 provides a better balance of developer and community interests in land use planning for nature protection, but without intervenor funding at the OMB for groups representing broad public interests, the inequities we have seen in the past will be perpetuated," said Ontario Nature Executive Director Caroline Schultz.
Bill 51 received first reading on December 12, 2005 and now awaits second reading. For more information, please read our media backgrounder or view the groups' submissions on their websites.
For more information please contact:
Theresa McClenaghan, CELA (519) 755-7579 cell www.cela.ca
Rick Smith, PhD, Environmental Defence, (416) 323-9521 ext. 225 www.environmentaldefence.ca
Caroline Schultz, Ontario Nature, (416) 444-8419 ext. 237 www.ontarionature.org
Mark Winfield, Ph.D, The Pembina Institute (416) 978-5656 www.pembina.org
Paula Boutis, Sierra Legal Defence Fund (416) 368-7533 ext 34 www.sierralegal.org