Dear residents of Midhurst

If you live in Midhurst, chances are you love it. There are so few examples of a natural little village nestled in a pine forest on the banks of a winding creek.

It's such a shame therefore, that the Township of Springwater has seen fit to follow a developer's proposal to build medium and high density housing all around the village. You can find details on the Springwater.ca website, but in essence they want to build two high density nodes on Doran Road and Pooles Road east of the village and another one on Carson Road south west of the village. High density dwellings could be up to 6 stories and these are to be surrounded by medium and low density housing, contiguous with the existing village settlements. The initial build out will permit 3,850 homes to be built starting next year, with a housing count of 10,000 homes by 2031 - the same number as in Orillia today.

This is unless the Province puts a halt to it. And they have every reason to do so, because the plan contravenes the Province's Places to Grow policy in numerous ways. In their letter to Simcoe County the Province pointed out that the Midhurst Secondary Plan contains growth forecasts that exceed those permitted by the Province and even by the County of Simcoe. The plan also ignores Provincial directives for confining growth to existing built up areas with existing municipal wastewater systems (Midhurst doesn’t have one). The Province also aims to protect high grade farming land and to reduce commuter traffic, two directives completely ignored by the Township. In fact the Township's plan supports the idea of running major roads through a quiet village!  

So the plan will be defeated then? Well not necessarily. The case is now supposed to go before the Ontario Municipal Board for a decision and they have frequently been known to support whoever has the strongest arguments and that's usually the developer. Developers are far more experienced in garnering support than are a group of peaceful residents. There are currently more letters on file in support of the Midhurst Secondary Plan than there are against it. (Check out the Simcoe web site). But residents can have their say too. If you are opposed to the plan, please write to the authorities listed below and also let your fellow residents know by emailing massivemidhurst@gmail.com.

Places to write:

Minister of Infrastructure,  bob@bobchiarelli.com Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing,  kwynne.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org  <mailto:kwynne.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org>

Jim Wilson, Ontario MPP Simcoe-Grey,   jim.wilson@pc.ola.org