Monitoring Municipal Planning + Development
Large-scale development proposals are a threat that never seems to go away. The Environment Council is a small organization with a broad portfolio, so we’re not able to spearhead opposition to every out-sized development plan, but in recent years we have monitored and reacted as we could to a couple of potential developments.
One such development is Pilgrim’s Rest on the north shore of Upper Stoney, though the application may be dormant at the moment. In April 2018, when the proposal to redevelop the former campground was published by Peterborough County, we made a submission to the County Planning Department, outlining our concerns and asking that further environmental assessment work be carried out. In this case, we were concerned about potential impacts on the Hull-South Bay Provincially Significant Wetland, which includes the Pilgrim’s Rest waterfront. The PSW contains Muskie and Walleye spawning areas and is home to a number of Species at Risk. We were also worried about human impacts – including increased boat traffic – on other natural areas and water quality.
The other development threatening our lake water quality is directly upstream from Stony Lake at the Lovesick Lake Trailer Park where a proposal first emerged in 2016 but was eventually withdrawn, in large part due to opposition, devastating peer views of the development plan, and a strong letter writing campaign. In the time since 2016, the developers have acquired new land and embarked on extensive road construction and all indications are that they are pressing ahead with plans to expand. The trailer park currently consists of 149 RV site and 120 unlicensed docks. The 2016 plan proposed the addition of 300 new RV sites on the Kawartha escarpment, which sees substantial run-off directly down into Lovesick Lake. With the more recent acquisition by the developers of Strickers campground, the potential size of the development balloons to 537 RV sites. That would make the percentage of trailers to residential units on this small lake 75.5% to 24%.
Encouraging the adoption of municipal septic re-inspection programs has been a priority for EC for several years. To read more about the relationship between healthy septics and healthy water, follow the link below.