We, the undersigned, call on the City of Hamilton, City Council, and relevant provincial and conservation authorities to reject the UB-3 development application affecting the Sulphur Springs corridor and to take immediate steps to formally protect Sulphur Springs and Ancaster’s historic wells as a natural, cultural, and ecological heritage system.

Why This Matters
The Sulphur Springs corridor and Ancaster’s wells are not isolated features. They are part of a continuous groundwater and valley system that has shaped this landscape for centuries — ecologically, culturally, and historically.

History offers a clear warning.

https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/onhistory/2008-v100-n1-onhistory04958/1065727ar/

In the late 1960s, the Ontario government proposed an expressway through the Ancaster–Dundas area. That project was defeated before a final route was even chosen because residents understood something critical:

once a valley corridor is treated as “developable” or “transportation-appropriate,” escalation follows. Natural features become constraints to be engineered around rather than protected.

That expressway was stopped precisely because citizens defended the whole valley system, not just pieces of it.

Today, the UB-3 development application reopens that same planning logic.

 
Why Sulphur Springs Is at Risk

A living sulphur spring and associated wells:

• Trigger environmental and heritage protections
  Limit road widening and infrastructure expansion
  Require planners to respect groundwater, ecology, and place
  In other words, they slow down growth-first development.

When natural features are treated as obstacles instead of assets, they are at risk of neglect, damage, or quiet removal. Recent events affecting the Sulphur Springs site — and the lack of timely restoration — highlight why passive protection is not enough.

If Sulphur Springs is not explicitly protected now, it will continue to be vulnerable.

 
What We Are Asking For
We call on decision-makers to:

• Reject the UB-3 development application affecting the Sulphur Springs corridor
• Formally recognize Sulphur Springs and Ancaster’s wells as a protected natural and cultural heritage system
• Require full, independent hydrogeological and ecological review before any future applications in this area
• Commit to restoration and long-term stewardship of the Sulphur Springs site
• Ensure that planning decisions prioritize water protection, community heritage, and ecological integrity over short-term development pressure
   
  Why Act Now
  The Dundas Valley was saved because residents acted before damage became permanent.
  We are at a similar moment now.

Protecting Sulphur Springs is not anti-growth.
It is pro-water, pro-history, pro-community, and pro-future.

Once a spring is gone, it does not come back.