Just days before the scheduled October 14th Committee of the Whole meeting, the applicant—Cavanagh Construction—submitted an update. The township granted an extension until November 25th to review the new materials. But this wasn’t about transparency or collaboration. It was a calculated move by Cavanagh to delay the process just long enough to trigger an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) on the grounds of “non-decision.”
This tactic strips the application from local hands and places it into a provincial tribunal process—one that is far less accessible to residents and far less accountable to our community.
This is not how planning is supposed to work.
The consequences are serious:
• Local voices are sidelined. Residents who expected to speak at council meetings or submit comments now face a legalistic process with limited opportunity to be heard.
• Our council is cut out. The people we elected to represent us no longer have the authority to decide on this application.
• Environmental oversight is weakened. Agencies like the conservation authority may not have the same influence in the tribunal process.
• The Township bears the cost. Responding to an OLT appeal requires time, expertise, and legal resources—diverting funds from other community priorities.
This is a clear abuse of process. It undermines public trust and sets a dangerous precedent: that developers can delay, withhold information, and then bypass local review entirely.
Lanark Highlands deserves better.
This is more than a planning dispute. It’s a test of whether our democratic processes still protect the public interest—or whether they can be sidestepped by those with deeper pockets and strategic lawyers.
Lanark Highlands is not just a line on a map—it’s our home. Our water, our roads, our forests, and our future deserve decisions made by the people who live here, not by a distant tribunal or a developer trying to dictate the rules.
I will stand with our township and with our council and I call on every resident to stand together—for what is right, for what is fair, and for what protects our community.
We must not let Cavanagh Construction run our township how they see fit. Planning decisions should reflect the will of the people, not the strategy of a corporation.
Let’s show the Ontario Land Tribunal that Lanark Highlands is united, determined, and ready to defend our rural way of life.
Because if we don’t stand together now, we risk losing the power to shape our future.
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