Ontario Government Could Return Land to Greenbelt
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is warning that his government could return land to the Greenbelt after two parcels were listed for sale.
Ford said in a statement Tuesday that developers put two sites in Ajax, Ont., on the market after they were removed from the Greenbelt, a Greater Toronto Area protected zone. But intentions to sell were never discussed with the province’s facilitator.
“In response, our government is exploring every option available to us, including immediately starting the process to put these sites back into the Greenbelt,” said Ford in his statement.
Ford has come under fire from the province’s Auditor-General for removing 3,000 hectares from the Greenbelt for housing-development purposes.
In early August, Auditor-General Bonnie Lysyk issued a scathing report that accused the provincial government of removing the land through a “biased” process that favoured “certain prominent developers.”
According to Lysyk, the developers of 15 former Greenbelt properties could see their land values increase $8.3 billion altogether.
Photo Credit: Bill Smith/Wikipedia
- ◦Lease
- ◦Sale/Acquisition
- ◦Development
- ◦Policy/Gov't