In the first hour of CFRU93.3fm’s Royal City Rag on July 10, Judy Martin from Sierra Club Canada joined us with an update on some important environmental issues affecting the city.
1291 Gordon Street is a proposal for a condo development at the corner of Edinburgh Road and Gordon Street, and impinging on a provincial significant wetland that forms part of the Hanlon Creek Watershed Complex.
This development is very significant for the community because it will give us the first indication of how seriously the city will protect our natural areas, as it comes to terms with the huge amount of growth that Guelph will experience under the provincial growth plan Places to Grow. By 2031, under Places To Grow, which mandates intensification within current city limits in an attempt to curb sprawl, Guelph’s population will grow from 105,000 to 165,000.
As Judy pointed out in her elegant address to the council planning meeting on July 5… this development proposal provides inadequate wetland buffers and is contrary to the Provincial Policy Statement in that it does not show that there will be “no negative impact” on the provincially significant wetland.
Indeed although the report prepared by city staff states that the 30-metre wetland buffer is appropriate for the site and that wetland function will not be impacted by this development… the (city prepared) Hanlon Creek Watershed Plan recommended 120 metre — not 30 metre– buffers for this wetland stating that this is “an area of rare plants & aquatic vegetation sensitive to disturbance. Wide buffer required to protect vegetation from influx of salts and nutrients. The buffer should include upland open area next to road to provide upland habitat for wildlife.”
Simply put, 30 metre buffers will not protect wildlife habitat. Wood frogs and spring peepers have been found in this wetland. These frogs spend most of their lives on land, not in the water.
Fortunately, when this development file came to a planning meeting on July 5, council had the fortitude to send the proposal back to staff with a request for more information on the environmental impact of this development.
Although intensification and infill development are important to make sure that the city does not sprawl uncontrollably, the question is at what price?
According to Judy, adequate buffers (minimum 100 metres according to Environment Canada) are essential if we are to retain our natural areas, greenspace and biodiversity.
It is for this reason that the final arbiter on development with the province, the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS), recommends a buffer of 120 metres.
That legislation is governed by ‘the precautionary principle’ which states that if an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of scientific consensus that the action or policy is harmful, the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those taking the action.
The intent is to protect… all of the biodiversity, all of the functions of our valuable remaining wetlands. If this means 100 metre buffers or more, and puts some areas off limits for development, that is the imperative.
Even the Places to Grow Act recognizes that the environment should take priority:
“if there is a conflict between a direction in a growth plan and a direction in a plan or policy . . . relating to the natural environment or human health, the direction that provides more protection to the natural environment or human health prevails.”
Unfortunately you have to question what the priority is here.
Read the full text of Judy Martin’s address to City Council HERE (right click to download)
You may also want to check out Royal City Rag contributor Bob Gordon’s article on using buffers to minimize the environmental impact of development.
The City of Guelph Natural Heritage Strategy comes back to city council on July 27.
Our conversation with Judy Martin was not restricted to the 1291 Gordon St. development proposal. Judy also outlined why it is important that city council pass a stronger tree bylaw. Many municipalities have stronger and more comprehensive tree bylaws than Guelph.
Guelph citizens have been waiting for a stronger tree bylaw for more than 20 years. In the meantime, the city continues to lose canopy. Currently Guelph’s urban forest canopy sits at 25%, while the desired level is 40%.
Clearcutting on the Carson Reid Property, June 2009
Unfortunately the current tree bylaw, from 1986 (view), states that it is an offence to injure or destroy any living tree in the City of Guelph but does very little to actually protect them.
The new bylaw (view the current draft) will be a significant improvement however it is in danger of being weakened by intensive lobbying from the development community.
As Judy pointed out, the city’s intent is not to prevent homeowners from removing problem trees, but, rather, to bring our bylaw in line with municipalities, such as Toronto and Richmond Hill, that are using best practices to protect their mature urban trees.
City Staff will be bringing an updated draft of ther proposed bylaw to the Community Development and Environmental Services (CDES) committee on July 19.
For more on this very important issue please visit Guelph Urban Forest Friends at www.guffguelph.ca.
If you missed the interview with Judy, you can find it via the link below. Its well worth a listen. If it inspires you then please speak out. Your grandchildren and great-grandchildren will thank you for it.
Listen:
Download (Right click and save)
Music:
The Unthanks, Because He Was A Bonny Lad from Here’s The Tender Coming
Loudon Wainright III, High Wide And Handsome from High Wide And Handsome, The Charlie Poole Project
Danny And The Champions Of The World, Henry The Van from Streets Of Our Time
Hillside Inside
Formerly Royal City Rag 
What Have Our Urban Trees Ever Done For Us?
Posted in Commentary, tagged City of Guelph, Guelph Urban Forest Friends, GUFF, Strategic Urban Forest Management Plan, Trees, Woodland Trust on July 13, 2010| 1 Comment »
The following article was on the BBC News website last week. It’s definitely worth repeating. Its clear that Guelph is not the only city dealing with a drastic decrease in its urban mature tree canopy.
Calls To Green The ‘Concrete Jungle’
Mark Kinver, Science and Environment Reporter, BBC News
June 30, 2010
Trees can play an essential role in improving the quality of life in UK towns and cities, a report has said.
The Woodland Trust says planting more trees has been shown to improve air quality, reduce ambient temperatures and benefit people’s health.The trend of declining tree cover in many areas needs to be reversed in order to improve access to green spaces in urban areas, the study adds. The trust is also launching a campaign to plant 20 million native trees each year.
“Towns and cities tend to put into sharp relief some of the key problems we are facing as a society,” said lead author Mike Townsend. “So they are a good place to start when try to illustrate just where green spaces can deliver significant improvements for relatively little cost.”
The issues outlined in the report included physical and mental health problems, childhood obesity, air pollution, soaring summer temperatures, flash flooding and diminishing wildlife.
The trust estimated that 80% of the UK population live in urban areas, yet less than 10% of people have access to local woodlands within 500m of their homes.
“If you look back over history, Victorian times saw a real move towards parks and street trees; some of the big street trees that you find in our cities today go back to these times,” explained Woodland Trust conservation policy expert Sian Atkinson.
“What we have seen more recently is that there has been reduction in the number of trees being planted, and there has also been a loss of the lovely Victorian trees with big canopies,” she told BBC News.
“We are starting to miss these from our towns and cities, and not enough thought has been given to replacements and to ensuring that there is going to be enough tree cover in the future.”
‘Slow the flow’
The report also highlighted the role urban trees could play in preventing flash floods.
Ms Atkinson said: “Hard surfaces in towns and cities have increased in recent years, and we are seeing more flooding. One of the problems is surface water drainage. It has been shown that trees and woods are key to help control this sort of flooding. As well as absorbing groundwater, tree canopies help reduce the volume of rainfall hitting the ground and relieve pressure on urban drainage systems.”
She called on civic planners to address the issues highlighted by the report.
“There is quite a lot of talk about green infrastructure,” she observed, “and our message is that we hope that trees and woods are a really big part of that.”
In its Programme for Government report, the coalition government announced that it would initiate a national tree planting campaign.
During a speech in May, Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said: “If any organism has demonstrated an ability to multi-task, it’s trees. They capture carbon and hold soils together, prevent flooding and help control our climate. They also add immeasurably to the quality of life of our towns and cities.”
She added that in some parts of inner London, it was calculated that each tree was deemed to be worth as much as £78,000 in terms of its benefits.
Ms Atkinson welcomed the government’s announcement: “The UK has very low woodland cover compared with the rest of Europe. We are actually looking for a doubling in native woodland cover. There are some areas that have more cover than others, but – overall – there is quite a big job to do in order to increase tree cover to a level that provides all the benefits outlined in the report.”
To coincide with the publication of the report, the Woodland Trust is also launching a More Trees More Good campaign, which will look to plant 20 million native trees across the UK for the next 50 years.
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Guelph’s urban forest canopy sits at 25%, while the desired level is 40%. Guelph citizens have now been waiting for a new stronger protective tree by-law for over 19 years. In the meantime we continue to lose canopy.
Guelph Urban Forest Friends have been advocating for our urban trees, including a strong protective tree bylaw and a separate urban forestry department with a certified forester to more effectively manage tree maintenance and coordinate public education on the value of our mature trees.
For more information, visit www.guffguelph.ca
Please contact Mayor and Council about this issue. Tell them that our mature urban trees need their help and support. Tell them to get the Strategic Urban Forestry Management Plan completed and a strong and comprehensive protective bylaw passed.
Contacting Guelph City Council
Mayor Farbridge: mayor@guelph.ca
Ward 1: Bob Bell bob.bell@guelph.ca, Kathleen Farrelly kathleen.farrelly@guelph.ca
Ward 2: Vicki Beard vicki.beard@guelph.ca, Ian Findlay ian.findlay@guelph.ca
Ward 3: Maggie Laidlaw maggie.laidlaw@guelph.ca, June Hofland june.hofland@guelph.ca
Ward 4: Gloria Kovach gloria.kovach@guelph.ca, Mike Salisbury mike.salisbury@guelph.ca
Ward 5: Lise Burcher lise.burcher@guelph.ca, Leanne Piper leanne.piper@guelph.ca
Ward 6: Christine Billings christine.billings@guelph.ca, Karl Wettstein karl.wettstein@guelph.ca
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