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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2011-03-24, Page 20Continued from page 1 granted, Reid said, which is required for the approval and subsequent creation of a residential lot. The reason the issue has even been discussed at the Huron County level, however, is that Central Huron decided to go against the wishes of the Huron County Planning Department and recommend the application for approval (in a vote that was passed four votes to three in July, 2010). There were several conditions attached to the Central Huron approval, but one of the major reasons for the approval given by Central Huron Reeve Jim Ginn was that because of the placement of the proposed lot, and its proximity to another home, there would be no further change in the MDS formula (meaning that the home would not create a further MDS circle that would impede agriculture that the existing home hasn’t already created). He said that no further agriculture would be impeded and if the applicants were prepared to deal with the sounds and smells of farming (which they had indicated, by their application, that they were), all the denial would be doing would be preventing a young family from potentially moving into a new home in the area. Several Huron County councillors stated that while they normally defer to the home council on issues such as these, trusting that they know the area better than someone who doesn’t live there, this issue was different in that it could set a precedent. Huron East’s Bernie MacLellan agreed with Central Huron’s representatives, saying that if there would be no further MDS restrictions, the applicants should be allowed to built a house if they want. “The planning department has an obligation to council to point these issues out,” he said. “If Central Huron doesn’t have any complaints from the farmer, then I think this is acceptable.” Central Huron’s Brian Barnim said that he knows the rules are in place for a reason, but felt that each situation should be looked at and judged on its own merits. “We’ve done our due diligence, but we’re dealing with an eight- year-old official plan,” Barnim said. “I think it would read different if it was done today.” Warden Neil Vincent, however, had a problem with the fact that the application attempted to circumvent the lower tier municipality’s own official plan. He said that if that was the case, the lower tier should perhaps make an attempt to amend its official plan before proceeding with such a recommendation. “It’s one thing to go against the Provincial Policy Statement, it’s one thing to not fit into the Huron County official plan, but it’s very unacceptable that it doesn’t fit into the township’s official plan,” Vincent said. “If they want to change, then that would make a difference for me, but we have to follow the rules of our own jurisdictions.” Ginn, however, fired back, saying that if Central Huron were to make an effort to change its official plan, the first roadblock they would run into would be that it wouldn’t conform with the Huron County official plan. Subsequently, he said, if there was a larger movement to amend the Huron County official plan, the first wall they would hit would be that the plan would no longer conform with the Provincial Policy Statement. “We have an opportunity here though,” Ginn said. “The Provincial Policy Statement is being reviewed. It’s time to change this.” It was with this statement that Ginn said he wanted to take action. He said that the motion before council should be tabled and there should be further and more positive research done by the planning department on the issue of these severance applications. Ginn said that Tousaw’s report from earlier in the year detailed all the reasons why council should not consider these types of applications, but that he wanted to see something detailing how council could approve these applications if it so wished, not all the reasons that they shouldn’t approve them. “We need recommendations on how to do this,” Ginn said. “I know we don’t want to open the floodgates with thousands of these applications, but we could certainly use hundreds of them and it think it would be a good thing.” The motion to table the decision was carried with 11 votes for the tabling and six votes against. After the motion to table was carried, MacLellan asked for there to be a timeline attached to the report, however, because the motion was now tabled, there could legally be no further discussion on the topic. Therefore no timeline was attached to the forthcoming report. There was also an issue with a group of citizens who had asked to address council that afternoon. Because the motion had been tabled, there could be no further discussion, not even the delegation. This raised significant frustration, both by the delegation and several councillors who had not considered that when voting on the motion. The head of the delegation, Bob Budd of Central Huron, was planning on speaking on the issues of non-farm severances in agricultural areas. PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2011.Continued from page 1animal is younger, Grandin said.Grandin went on to say that if ananimal is ever found openly displaying pain, there is probably a major problem with the animal. Parlours were also discussed, as some farmers expressed a problem in getting heifers to enter a parlour the first time, or after a bad experience. Grandin explained that the solution for having livestock wary of a certain location can be as varied as the livestock themselves, but did give a couple general suggestions. Using cattle’s social nature to your advantage was one of the best ways to overcome problems, she said. If a cow is following another cow, they will be far more likely to go into a location. She also stated that treats, and periodic breaks to alleviate stress might work well. To overcome a previous bad experience, Grandin’s advice wassimply; change, move or removewhatever caused the problem, orallow the animal to go where they’re comfortable in the parlour, since they will probably associate a bad experience with whatever was nearby when it happened. Grandin had similar advice for one farmer who had problems with her jersey cows passing over gutters. “Jerseys tend to be more stubborn,” she said. “But I would allow them to take their time and look at the gutter before they try and cross it.” Grandin explained that cows have poor depth perception, and they need time to become comfortable with something like a gutter. She also suggested creating a comfortable environment by creating a continuum of what the cattle are used to. “Create some similarities in the gutter,” she said. “Spread hay so it’s similar to the paths they are used toand they may not even look twice atit.”In hopes of finding another solution to the previous two problems, one farmer wondered what colours put cattle at ease. Grandin explained that cows, like some other farm animals, are dichromatic, meaning they don’t see the full colour spectrum, and that meant that cows don’t have a “favourite colour”. Instead of aiming for a specific colour, Grandin suggested that colours should not be starkly opposed, and that sunlight should be allowed in to stressful rooms like parlours. “Cows see more purple-blue and yellowish-green light,” she said. “So it’s not a matter of colour comfort. The best way to do it is to prevent changes in light and darkness and not have stark changes in colour schemes.” Grandin also discussed protectivefarm animals like dogs, “head-butt”zones on cattle, boss cows and thegenetics of cattle hair rolls. For more information about Grandin and her experiences, visit her website at www.grandin.com Grandin also suggested farmers be familiar with the Pub Med database,a database with article summariesavailable for free, and some articlesavailable in their entirety at a cost. The service is available at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ and is hosted by U.S. National Library of Medicine. Application tabled again Renowned livestock expert stops in Ethel Livestock behaviour Temple Grandin, a livestock behaviour expert, stopped in Ethel on Friday, March 18 for a symposium on animal behaviour. Grandin and more than a dozen local farmers, filled the Ethel Community Hall to discuss livestock behaviour from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. (Denny Scott photo) Sponsorship levels are: 1. Friends $250-$499 2. Benefactors $500-$999 3. Patrons $1,000 and over ------ ----- -- -- --- - --- - -- - - - - --- -- - - - -- - - 1000 COPIES AR E BEING ORD E R E D ! 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