The Rural Voice, 1990-04, Page 36made on the evidence put forward,"
Murdoch says. "After we've made the
decision, there is a 30 -day waiting per-
iod to allow any agencies or ratepay-
ers to object to the Ontario Municipal
Board."
Murdoch has been on the Planning
Approval Committee for five years.
The group used to meet four days a
month, but now meets two or three
days a week, he says. The members
of this committee are also members of
the Planning Advisory Committee.
"We've received about 2,000
applications for severance this year
(1989)," Murdoch says. "In the past,
it has been stated by the media that
these are '2000 farm severances'.
These are not all farm severances;
they are `rural' severances."
"This is still misleading," Murdoch
adds. "A lot of severances are in
urban settings in rural areas, such as
Bognor or Tobeyville."
"People think these severances are
coming off the corners of farms, but in
reality the vast majority of severances
are near small urban centres in town-
ships, or along lakes," he continues.
"Also included in 'severances' are a
small number of severance -easements
and additions to lots. So it is not as if
2,000 farms have been severed. But,
certainly, there are a number of sever-
ances off farms."
There are four types of severances:
rural urban, easements, additions to
lots, and farm severances. Under farm
severances, there are three types:
technical severances, farm retirement
severances, and estate lot severances
for rural residences. It is the last cat-
egory of severances that has generated
the most controversy in the county.
The three main objections to estate
lot severances have been: (1) the
severance is in a farming area; (2) the
severance is too close to a barn; (3)
the severance is on prime agricultural
land (class 1 to 4) as defined by the
provincial ministry of agriculture.
According to Murdoch, the Grey
County Planning Approval Committee
sometimes grants severances despite
objections.
"The first objection is that the
severance is in a rural farm area. I
say, why can't a house be located in a
rural area? If the land is stony, if there
are hawthorn trees, it is not good land.
I don't see where houses hurt in a
rural community."
"As to the second objection —
nearness to barns — many barns are
falling down today. We look at the
barn and the farming situation. If the
severance is too close, we will turn it
down. Distances from barns are all
different and never consistent. Each
person on the committee has to check
out the severances personally in his or
her area."
"We try not to put any severances
on prime agricultural land," continues
Murdoch. "If the land all around the
severance area is stony, then it can't
be worked. Grey County has a lot of
stony land."
The Agricultural Code of Practice,
a provincial policy statement, states
that development should not be
allowed on class 1 to 4 land. "But,"
says Murdoch, "we have to look at the
land and look at what's on that land.
We are to preserve good agricultural
land and to preserve the land with
good farming practices. Every day I
see prime agricultural land being
developed in city core areas such as
Brampton. No one is objecting there."
"Quite a lot of farms are being
sold to city people and the land is
going out of production," Murdoch
adds. "Which is worse? Selling 100
acres to a city person and putting the
land all out of production or selling
five acres and enabling the farmer to
make enough money to help him
continue farming?"
"A farmer can make more money
selling three or four lots then he or she
has made all his or her life farming."
Another reason for approving
severances, Murdoch says, is that they
are a good tax base for the townships.
"If there is one mile of road along one
farm, the taxes will never pay to keep
the road open. Why not let four
homes be built along the road on
rough farm land?"
Farming isn't a sufficient resource
base for Grey, Murdoch maintains.
"Murdoch's Philosophy of Farming,"
he says, "is this: agriculture is not
dead, although I certainly think it's
dying. The provincial government has
to find a way to get us a fair price for
our products."
"If a farmer is paid a fair price, he
or she will invest it and keep his or her
business running," Murdoch says.
"Today, increased costs contribute to
the everyday cost of farm production,"
he says. "Ten years ago you got $1
for a bale of hay. It's still $1 for a
bale of hay, but look at the price of
parts and repairs. No wonder a farmer
wants to make a bit of money off the
rock pile on the corner of his farm!"
But more is at stake in Grey
County than "rock piles" on individual
farms. "I agree with a lot of people,"
says Murdoch, "who think that a sub-
division is the way to go. But not
everyone can afford to invest their
money in engineering and hydrology
reports. There's too much red tape.
And until the subdivision granting
authority is given back to the county,
there won't be a lot of subdivisions in
Grey County."
"We're working on a system to get
this back to the county. Subdivisions
are more planned than strip develop-
ment (lot by lot). Subdivisions get
more attention, though. Then the
complainers take it to Ontario Muni-
cipal Board hearings. Landowners
don't have the money or the time to
wait for their approval, usually about
two years."
Murdoch, a member of the Grey
Sauble Conservation Authority (form-
erly the North Grey Conservation
Authority), has served as chairman of
the group since 1986. He also spent
five years as Grey County's appointed
representative on the Grey -Bruce
Tourist Association, serving as secre-
tary -treasurer for four of those years.
And, elected five years ago as Grey
County's representative to the Associ-
ation of Municipalities of Ontario
(AMO), Murdoch is now AMO vice-
president, and chairman of its Legis-
lation and Resolutions Committee.
AMO, with 800 municipalities, is
a lobby group active at Queen's Park.
But back in Grey County, at the
centre of the local controversy, Bill
Murdoch faces off against the Grey
Association for Better Planning, a
group formed in protest against the
kinds of policies Murdoch promotes.
Bill Murdoch, in the eyes of some, is
an opinionated, controversial "politi-
cal boss." To others, he is a sincere
man who, as an elected public official,
is standing up for his rights and the
rights of those he represents.0
32 THE RURAL VOICE