THERE COMES A TIME IN LIFE when one must sympathize with the plight of politicians.

Consider the nature of the battle being waged by North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce against the future proposals of The Highland Companies to create a quarry in Melancthon Township.

We acknowledge that NDACT has every right to oppose such a development by any means at its disposal.

But we also recognize that the township council cannot take action against a development for which it presumably has no concrete information and for which no application has as yet been filed.

NDACT is clearly on record as wanting a special crops designation in the Honeywood area for the purpose of fortifying its fight against a quarry. Should the council take a stand in full knowledge of the purpose, it could be seen as discriminating against one landowner.

We have a similar, although not identical, situation at Grand Valley in which an Ontario Superior Court judge found that East Luther Grand Valley council had sought to circumvent the province's Line Fences Act by declaring its abandoned CP Rail right-of-way (part of the former Teeswater branch line) as a highway.

Nonetheless, NDACT has been firing salvos at Mayor Debbie Fawcett and other politicians who stumble into its gunsights.

We do understand NDACT's frustration. But we feel it is taking the wrong approach when it targets politicians whose hands are virtually tied by the virtual plethora of provincial statutes, a Provincial Policy Statement, established local applications of bylaws, and views that might be taken by the courts and the Ontario Municipal Board.

Like it or not, the aggregate industry is, and will remain, a fact of life in Southern Ontario, and the problems posed by creation of a new quarry will most likely be found at any site selected by a proponent.

In the circumstances, the challenge facing local politicians will be to steer a middle course between the two easiest choices — supporting the proponent, once persuaded that the proposed operation complies with all relevant statutes and regulations, and supporting the opponents, in the knowledge that such action will win approval from voters in the next election.

As it happens, the municipal elections aren't that far off (in November of next year) and the temptation will be to put off any final decision on such touchy matters until a new council takes office.

Sadly, that may also be what's in store for us on the equally touchy issue posed by solid wastes, an issue that has been under discussion in Dufferin County for at least 30 years without any visible progress being made, despite the fact trucking them to Michigan will no longer be an option after the end of next year.