Unfettered growth irresponsible

In the Caledon Citizen of Oct. 24, the mayor, in her column entitled "Focussing on growth management in Caledon," provided a succinct explanation of the political pressures and reasoning behind council's choice of a population cap for Caledon of 108,000 by 2031.

The Caledon Environmental Advisory Committee (CEAC) provided advice to council throughout the population forecasting process. CEAC advocated, through a public report submitted to council in early 2006, the adoption of a provisional low growth option, with built-in review points for the period from 2021 to 2031. In passing, I should note that CEAC did not publicly advocate any specific population growth cap for 2031.

I'm not at all sure that the citizens of the Town of Caledon appreciate the seriousness or the ramifications of the outcome of the slow growth/accelerated growth debate.

Council has an onerous responsibility to safeguard the future of the Town of Caledon and should be taking decisions based on quantifiable information encompassing social, environmental and economic

factors. The trouble is that the current process provides for little quantification

of the social and environmental impacts of growth, and relies almost solely on the economic aspects of development.

So what to do? CEAC advocates allowing population growth at as slow a rate as is economically sustainable and establishing broad-based benchmarks (including social and environmental aspects) when the impacts of growth can be measured (say, every five to eight years) and plans for modified growth can be put in place. To do otherwise, and for council to allow unfettered growth, would be irresponsible.

For once the genie is out of the bottle, it won't be possible to push him back in, and we will have to live with the adverse consequences of our decision on the Town's health, social and education services, the Town's infrastructure and on the natural environment.
John Abbott
Vice-Chair
Caledon Environmental
Advisory Committee