{"id":29060,"date":"2021-04-02T00:10:58","date_gmt":"2021-04-02T04:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=29060"},"modified":"2021-04-02T00:11:02","modified_gmt":"2021-04-02T04:11:02","slug":"henderson-forest-advocates-prepare-for-a-new-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/henderson-forest-advocates-prepare-for-a-new-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHenderson Forest\u201d advocates prepare for a new fight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Advocates for the preservation of wooded land on Henderson Drive scored a victory earlier this year when Ontario\u2019s Local Planning Appeals Tribunal (LPAT) upheld Aurora\u2019s decision to block redevelopment on portions of the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Henderson Forest Ratepayers Association is not resting on their laurels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faced with a request from the property owners for a review of the decision, the Ratepayers (HFRPA) are appealing to Council for their support on the next leg of the fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, George Skoulikas, President of the HFRPA, made a delegation to Council asking for lawmakers\u2019 support in upholding the decision made by Aurora\u2019s Committee of Adjustment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The request for a review of LPAT\u2019s decision would \u201ctake us right back to where we started\u201d said Mr. Skoulikas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would like to take this opportunity to remind Council why it is so critical for the Town to continue to defend the Committee of Adjustment\u2019s decision,\u201d he said, citing expert findings on the unique biodiversity on the site, including habitat for endangered species. \u201cAt the 2020 Forests Ontario conference, York Region\u2019s Manager of Natural Heritage and Forestry said that Green Infrastructure has gone from \u2018nice to have\u2019 to \u2018must have.\u2019 He said municipalities must recognize trees as a capital asset that appreciate in value over time. That\u2019s why planting new trees as suggested by the [property owner\u2019s] environmental firm will not compensate for removing mature trees that already provide multiple benefits, including flood mitigation and carbon storage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A report from the Town of Aurora on the economic value of \u201cnatural capital assets,\u201d he said, indicates that each time a hectare of natural land is lost, \u201cwe are depreciating our asset base and losing the goods and services they once provided. We may only recognize the loss of important ecosystems once they are gone, a loss that is often irreversible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is an important warning, replicated by so many respected scientists around the globe, yet local environmental firms working for developers somehow have a different view,\u201d said Mr. Skoulikas. \u201cThe Committee of Adjustment and the Town\u2019s appointed counsel at LPAT both agreed these applications are not in the public interest. Furthermore, development is not an appropriate use for these mature woodlands. They serve their rightful purpose now as mature woodlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMayor Mrakas, you are a strong advocate for our Official Plan. The existing policies promote environmental responsibility, including the absolute protection of endangered species habitat. The wording is crystal clear and must be respected. At this critical time, we\u2019re simply asking Council to defend the Official Plan in all aspects of environmental protection, including the continued preservation of Aurora\u2019s few remaining areas of endangered species habitat. These lands are too important to be lost merely for the short-term gain of a few at such a huge environmental cost. It should not be our collective obligation to secure maximum return for the private investment. To lose this land after this long and costly battle will also set a dangerous precedent in future attempts to develop other natural areas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Skoulikas\u2019 appeal on behalf of the HFRPA did not fall on deaf ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sitting at the Committee level on March 23, Council members reiterated their support for the group\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe residents of our Town are thankful for the work you and the rest of the team have during this whole process,\u201d said Mayor Mrakas. \u201cI have never been one to actually say I liked the decision from LPAT, but this decision I did like. Even though I feel we already made that decision at the Committee of Adjustment to uphold our OP (Official Plan), the process is what it is. Unfortunately, it ends with LPAT and it is a process that needs to be changed, in my opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe decision [should] be left to this table\u2026not an unelected body such as LPAT, even though they did make the right decision this time. We\u2019ll see how this unfolds through the process and the review. Hopefully it does get upheld.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Council members praised the group\u2019s tenacity in advocating for the land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would hazard a guess the results wouldn\u2019t have been the same if you weren\u2019t involved,\u201d said Councillor John Gallo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added Councillor Sandra Humfryes, \u201cYou are steadfast and it is to be very much admired. They don\u2019t know who they are working with. You will never give up and I think you have made yourselves a very strong, powerful reputation that you, the residents, and us, Aurora, take this matter very seriously. The environment is to be protected. It is not a \u2018nice to have,\u2019 it is a \u2018has to have.\u2019 This Council won\u2019t let up either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong>
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/em><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Advocates for the preservation of wooded land on Henderson Drive scored a victory earlier this year when Ontario\u2019s Local Planning Appeals Tribunal (LPAT) upheld Aurora\u2019s decision to block redevelopment on portions of the site. But the Henderson Forest Ratepayers Association is not resting on their laurels. Faced with a request from the property owners for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-7yI","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-09 12:12:49","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29060\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}