A day after meeting with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Oro-Medonte's Mayor has a renewed sense of optimism for growing the township's economy.  

Harry Hughes was one of seven mayors invited for a one-on-one meeting with Ford on Monday. At the forefront of the forty-five-minute meeting was Ontario’s ‘Places to Grow Act’ which Hughes says has prevented job creation, especially along the Highway 11 corridor.

“The Places to Grow specifies that the amount of land we can zone for industry and the location that they can be in and the types of industry that we can permit. Where in fact that doesn’t meet the agenda of industries that can be successful.” said Hughes. “We are turning away job-producing industries on a regular basis,"

The mayor argues the act limits how much land the township can zone for industrial and even affordable housing developments.

"The province needs to find a way of getting out of the way,” said Hughes. “To allow municipalities who know their communities well (enough) to be able to advance and make changes they feel will benefit and not to do that without having checks and balances"

These are the same restrictions retired dairy farmer Jim McLean has also experienced with his 125-acre land. McLean wants to give back to his community and build affordable housing for seniors on his land but has been told by municipal planners they don’t believe it’s feasible.

“There’s always been a lot of red tape,” says McLean. “A lot of the planning decisions have been taken away from the local people and it’s been head handed from Queen’s Park. We’ve actually showed this project to many planners - the county and other places – and their first reaction is, oh, what a wonderful plan, but we don't think it will fly because it doesn't fit the planning criteria"

McLean’s property is on the border with Barrie and he believes it's the ideal location for development because of the proximity to local transit and amenities.  Now that the issue has been raised with the province, he's hopeful his vision will take shape.

"I think maybe some of these political obstacles will get shoved aside, said McLean. “We’re not residents of Oro (-Medonte) versus Barrie, it’s a community. And we think this will be something the community will really benefit from.”
 
Mayor Hughes also raised the specific issue of affordable housing and the dire need for it.  Even although the premier didn't make any specific commitments, Hughes says he’s confident the province will act on the time-sensitive issues he raised.