Town council voted 3-2 to send the Veterans' Way's developer's plan as the town's position to the Ontario Municipal Board.

The developer's plan is a combination of residential and employment land for the entire Veterans 'Way property. This was the last employment land possibility within the Town of Orangeville.

Ministry officials will be coming to Orangeville to monitor and investigate the town's compliance with the Places to Grow Act.

The "Places to Grow" plan calls for 60 per cent of the new growth on undeveloped lands to meet a minimum target of 50 residents and jobs per hectare.

Municipalities which meet this criteria will have access to $4 to $5 billion.

Orangeville has been placed in a position which is not favourable to access these funds.

Town council has burdened its citizens with higher property taxes to pay for the extra kilometers of roads and sewers in addition to missing the

opportunity to ease the property tax burden with a mix of residential and industrial development.

Town Council has applied 20th century thinking to 21st century challenges.

The council's decision to send the developer's plan to the OMB demonstrates business as usual ignoring the province's growth plan. There seems to be a rush to get this to the OMB before OMB reform occurs.

It was argued that the Veterans' Way land has had not industrial development for the past 25 years and there is no sign of such development. The advantageous factors that Orangeville has power stability and one of the lowest hydro rates in Ontario were ignored. These are marketable factors to attract industry development.

As Mayor Hazel McCallion says in hindsight, "I only wish there had been this growth plan before all the development took place in Mississauga."

Sabin Auburger

Orangeville