Dear Editor:
Just a reminder that residents have been given an opportunity to participate in the “Puslinch by Design Study,” which will help identify the most ideal locations for future industry in Puslinch. It commits to maintaining the right amount and type of industrial (employment) lands in the right locations, to be compatible with the surrounding area and help maintain rural character. Residents appreciate this chance to have a say and help decide what Puslinch will look like going forward and set a precedent.
Nowadays, we are more aware of the urgent need to protect the health and well being of the people and our planet. We are all stewards of the land with a moral responsibility to look after it. There are important commitments listed in the Wellington County Official Plan such as maintaining rural character, protecting agriculture and environmentally sensitive areas, supporting land stewardship partnerships with residents, committing to healthy communities, etc.
This plan serves Puslinch and applies to the study. The only way to honour these commitments is to direct industry away from farmlands, away from wetlands and environmentally sensitive areas, away from established rural residential, etc. – instead, placing it on lands that are already compromised, lands near other industrial lands, lands where nature, farmland and rural character are already lost and thus the least harm will be inflicted.
Placing industry in a country setting on top of/or adjacent to farmland, environmentally sensitive lands, etc. and then adding some so-called mitigation measures (such as berms and landscaping) cannot possibly protect the land and the people. It is like putting lipstick on a pig.
We are not saying no to industry. We are saying no to irresponsible placement of industry, with the resulting needless destruction.
The website states that Puslinch is the ideal place to call home with its laid back country feel. Together, we can do the right thing for our beautiful township and protect/preserve that rural character before it is too late.
Watch for notification of the Feb. 26 public information meeting some time this winter. We need to act locally to protect Puslinch while we think county-wide as well as globally.
Jim and Donna Christie,
Puslinch