A community group and the Municipality of Springwater thought they were on the same page as the County of Simcoe when it came to population growth in Midhurst.
All three had been opposing population growth, but the county broke ranks.
“We are angry. We are disappointed by the lack of democracy attached to it and on some levels we are a bit disgusted,” says Sandy Buxton of the Midhurst Ratepayers Association.
Details of a settlement between the county and developers became public at an Ontario Municipal Board hearing on Friday. It will allow the population of Midhurst to grow by almost 3,000.
That equates to about 1,000 homes sprawling across 400 acres of prime land.
“It's all agricultural land. Not only that, its class 1-3, the best agricultural land you can find,” says Springwater Mayor Bill French.
County officials claim they made the deal in order to avoid the possibility of something much worse.
“If the board retained control, the full 6,000 could have been allocated to Midhurst,” says David Parks, director of planning with the County of Simcoe. “This way it was compromise.”
The landowners call it a win, win deal
“Residents in Midhurst will get what they want, land owners will get what they want without going through more of this ordeal so we are really excited about it,” says Louis Nitsopoulis, Carson Trails Estates.
Springwater's mayor and the Midhurst Ratepayers say the fight isn't over just yet.
They are taking some time to review the details of the agreement before deciding how to respond at the next OMB hearing later this month.
