CRC set to oppose Rockwood quarry at Ontario Municipal Board
The Concerned Residents Coalition (CRC) is officially taking the position that the “hidden quarry” in Guelph-Eramosa Township should not be approved.
At an Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) pre-hearing conference on Nov. 9 at 10:30am the CRC will be represented by lawyer Chris Barnett of DLA Piper.
The conference will be held at Rockmosa Community Hall in Rockwood.
In December of 2012 James Dick Construction Ltd. (JDCL) applied for a rezoning amendment for lands southeast of Rockwood - from agriculture and hazard land to extractive industrial - to make way for a quarry.
In May of this year JDCL took the application to the OMB, which will now make the final rezoning decision.
The CRC will ask to be included as a “party” at the OMB hearing, with full participation rights including presenting evidence, questioning witnesses and making final arguments.
At the OMB hearing the CRC will argue that the JDCL application for a licence under the provincial Aggregate Resources Act and its appeal for rezoning should be denied.
CRC officials say the quarry “could not be safe and free of adverse impacts, and would cause irreparable damage both to the community and to the sensitive and significant natural environment in the region.”
James Dick representatives have refuted the CRC claims.
Guelph-Eramosa Township, Milton and Halton Hills, as well as the Region of Halton, have passed resolution opposing the quarry proposal.
In the 2010 case of the Rockfort Quarry proposed by JDCL and turned down by the OMB, Barnett acted as legal counsel for the Town of Caledon, which opposed the quarry.
