The Rural Voice, 1983-09, Page 10Gravel pit in Glenelg township, Grey county. Photos by Mary Lou Weiser
taining farm buildings, and may bulldoze
barns, particularly when vibration causes
barn foundations to give way.
SCAAG has taken a very active role in
representing south Grey's best interests,
and its 500 members are a cross section
of the community ranging from local
farmers to recreational property owners.
Surprisingly, farmers do not make up a
large percentage of the membership. "It
would be more of an issue where farming
is more profitable," Dickman says. Bill
Hodges, a director with SCAAG and a
farmer who lives in Egremont Township,
expressed concern about the apparent
lack of interest on the aggregate issue by
many farmers. "Many farmers are inclined
to think that if the gravel company wants
my farm I'll sell it. I'm not making money
farming it anyway," Hodges says.
"Farmers are more concerned with the im-
mediate problem of making a living,
because they are immediate, and this is
down the road somewhere. There's only
one buyer when they talk about expropria-
tion," Hodges says. "There's no question
about a sale between a willing seller and
buyer. It's only the government that can
expropriate."
The Ministry of Natural Resources
published a Resource Planning Policy
stating that municipalities and planning
boards shall identify and protect as much
of its mineral aggregate resources as is
practicable to supply local, regional and
provincial needs. This policy was approv-
ed by Cabinet last December and Hodges
feels very strongly that it "places any
municipality in a straight jacket with
regard to doing anything towards protec-
PG. 8 THE RURAL VOICE, SEPTEMBER 1983
ting agriculture, the rights of other in-
dividuals and property owners. "This
policy completely over -rules the authority
local municipalities are supposed to
have," he added.
Kevin Hawthorne, District Planning Co-
ordinator with the Ministry of Natural
Resources in Owen Sound does not agree
with Hodges statement. "The policy gives
us a basis to negotiate with the
municipality," he said. "Gravel is a finite
resource and it is the municipality's deci-
sion about how much they want to protect
for future use." The plan works on a con-
straint basis, according to Hawthorne,
whereby agricultural and residential land
are subtracted from the land base.'
While there is some good farmland in
south Grey, a large percentage of the area
is covered in bush or swamp and some
people argue that it may as well be used
for aggregate extraction because
Retired farmer & conservationist Ed Lemke: "Two thousand miles of streams in Grey -
Bruce may very well be affected by the changing water table."