A bit of a grab bag of updates today…
CARLETON LIBERALS SET NOMINATION DATE
The riding association for the provincial Liberals in Carleton have set a date for their nomination meeting. It will be on Sunday, March 25 at South Carleton High School in Richmond. Kim Elliott and Theresa Qadri are the contestants.
As for the other parties, the PC nominee is Goldie Ghamari, while the NDP and the Green Party have yet to pick a candidate. (I haven’t heard any updates on potential contestants from either camp.)
The provincial election is on June 7.
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FIVE YEARS SINCE CARP LANDFILL EA APPROVAL
West Carleton resident Harold Moore has been fighting the proposed Carp Road landfill expansion for at least a decade, and he emailed me recently to point out that this coming August will be the fifth anniversary of the approval of Waste Management‘s Environmental Assessment (EA) for the expansion.
Moore says that the Ministry of Environment should require a review of the EA due to all of the new developments and population growth in our area over the past five years. He points out that the EA approval for the Capital Region Resource Recovery Centre (CRRRC) landfill in the east end of Ottawa has a requirement for a five-year review. Here’s the text from that approval:
“If, within 5 years of the date of approval, the proponent has not commenced construction of the undertaking, the proponent shall undertake a review of the CRRRC Environmental Assessment. The proponent shall review whether the effects analysis, anticipated net effects, and associated mitigation measures set out in the CRRRC Environmental Assessment remain accurate for the undertaking, and identify any changes to these.”
Waste Management and the City of Ottawa need to finalize a Host Municipal Responsibility Agreement (HMRA) and the company needs final site plan approval before they can being construction and operation of the expanded landfill.
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PLANNING COMMITTEE PASSES SITE ALTERATION BYLAW
Earlier today the City of Ottawa’s Planning Committee approved a new Site Alteration Bylaw. From a city press release:
“[It] would replace the existing Drainage By-law and eight Topsoil Preservation By-laws carried over from former municipalities. The new by-law aims to reduce the risk of negative impacts by establishing basic rules for site alteration activities. This includes the removal of topsoil from land, the placement or dumping of fill on land, the alteration of the grade of land, or excavation by any means, including the clearing or stripping of vegetation from the land, the compaction of soil or the creation of impervious surfaces.
The new by-law would also ensure the City is able to implement Official Plan policies protecting significant natural heritage features, and to enforce stop-work orders. This report will be considered next by the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, on Thursday, April 5.”