As I’ve probably said over and over again, we’re moving house soon. Our new home is only 3 minutes away from our current home, but it’s just that little bit further from town, that little bit more remote, that little bit more private. The location was a HUGE selling feature for us. We won’t be on town services (again) and we’ll be heating with propane while we investigate and figure out the most efficient and cost-effective way to heat our home and we’re embracing it fully. And, while I recognize that there are advantages and conveniences to subdivision living, it’s just not the life Mr. KB and I dream about. I fell in love with our new house at first sight. It needs some decorating TLC, but the location and size of the house, together with the size of the lot makes it a wonderful fit for our motley crew. Part of our backyard is a forest. That section of the forest belongs to us and we’ll keep it real. It’s on the survey, so I know that it’s ours to caretake. BUT (and this is a big but) just a wee bit beyond “our” forest is a much bigger forest. That forest is called the North Gwillimbury Forest.
Unbeknownst to Mr. KB and me when we were negotiating our purchase, a big part of the North Gwillimbury Forest, is slated for development. We first read about this in the Georgina Advocate and we jumped online to find out more. And more information we found. Metrus Developments is proposing to build a 1,073 home subdivision right smack in the middle of this forest area. Um, What? There is an advocacy group campaigning against this development and my family has signed up, sent a letter to the mayor and councillors expressing just how against this subdivision we are. The North Gwillimbury Forest Alliance makes an excellent case against Metrus’ subdivision, pointing out that these houses would be built “within a provincially significant wetland that cleans and protects water flowing into Lake Simcoe.”
I wonder what Metrus’ argument for the subdivision is? Maybe, “the deer and all the other wildlife can find somewhere else to live because our pockets must be lined at any cost! And whadda ya mean watershed – there’s a whole darn lake right there – there’s LOTS of water – duh!” Or, at least that’s probably what I will read into anything they end up saying in support of building their subdivision in the heart of this forest land.
The fight against the destruction of forest lands, green space, and wetlands is not a new one in Ontario, but this is the first one that has literally taken place right in my own backyard and it really rubs me wrong.
This really is an issue that affects not only local Georgina/Keswick residents, but residents of/on Lake Simcoe and beyond. To find out more information, to stay in up-to-date with what is happening to the North Gwillimbury Forest or to send a letter in support of the N.G. Forest Alliance and against the subdivision from their website check out either of these links:
The North Gwillimbury Forest Alliance