For decades now residents have been opposing many inappropriate developments in Niagara. Locally informed citizens become aware of significant environmental or historic sites under attack and have to weave their way through a complicated planning process at the region or local municipality. The amount of time and money spent by residents to oppose development on these priceless properties is enormous. In the meantime, when developers see there might be problems, they gear up their lobbying machines to influence staff and politicians in ways that the public can’t. The public can’t see all the information about the property and politicians don’t really care about the concerns of a contingent of citizens when faced with what they think are important economic decisions even when they never seem to put a price tag on nature.  There is now an opportunity to fix this problem with the new Niagara Region Official Plan. Niagara Regional Council, including all the mayors, will be making a decision in the next couple of weeks about whether to choose Option 3C or 3B for a Natural Heritage System (see Environmental Protection https://www.niagararegion.ca/official-plan/ Option 3B is a developers dream and will continue to allow development on urban environmentally sensitive areas. Option 3C is the best choice for anyone who cares about the environment of Niagara particularly in urban areas. Keep in mind that after the Official Plan is completed residents will no longer have input into where Niagara grows.  I urge Niagara residents to sign up for the Sustainable Regions Open House (https://www.niagararegion.ca/official-plan/public-information-centres.aspx on June 23rd and ask questions to be better informed about these options. I then urge you to contact your representatives on Niagara Region Council (https://www.niagararegion.ca/government/council/profiles/default.aspx and ask them to vote for Option 3C. 

Here is a great article about the options https://notllocal.com/2021/06/17/region-needs-to-choose-best-option-for-environment/?fbclid=IwAR3iJpKS8GFC__b49fAbZ4r8xLAeIyLAmHnATGaH5l0txG5D9Tgrxus9IYs . Also follow a Better Niagara on Facebook for more information. Can we move this to Option 3C PLUS???
 

* Share the petition with others https://www.change.org/p/ten-story-condo-going-up-in-waverly-woods Can we get to 7900 signatures by July 1st?  If you prefer not to sign the petition an alternative is to join our email list by sending your email and name to cvferie@gmail.com.

* Please donate to help us cover our legal and expert costs. Go to this link https://www.forterievoices.org/donation or send a donation to Community Voices of Fort Erie, P.O. Box 273, Fort Erie, Ontario L2A 2S0. All donations go towards our legal and expert costs. We require experts to testify at the Hearing in areas like Planning, Ornithology, Wetlands, Hydrology, Military History and Built Heritage.