The Goderich Signal-Star, 1978-09-28, Page 7Airport committee wants to be safe
BY JEFF SEDDON
The Goderich airport
committee wants to
clarify a couple of points
in the Colborne Township
Secondary plan before it
endorses the policy to
makesure there is no
conflict between the
airport and the township
over future expansions to
Sky Harbor.
The committee ap-
pointed Dave Gower, Don
Wheeler, Bill Bogie and
Ken Hunter, all members
off the airport committee,
to investigate Amend-
ment 13 to the Huron
County Planning Area
and prepare a report on
the subject for the
committee's October
session.
The township plan
designates the land
surrounding the airport
zoning it for future
developments. The
committee wants to
clarify some of the zoning
recommendations in the
plan to be sure no conflict
will arise in the future if
the airport requires
expansion
Mayor Deb Shevyfelt
said Tuesday the com-
mittee is not raising
objection to the plan but
merely wants to clear the
air. He said the town
wants to avoid lengthy
delays in the future if
some sort of expansion to
the municipal airstrip is
planned.
Shewfelt said a cursory
These two operators of a steam engine are shrouded in smoke from their giant
engine that pulled this 'eight furrow gang plow. The two lined the antique plow up
and set each. of the four units before setting off to turn over sod at the Inter-
national Plowing Match In Wingham Tuesday. (photo by Jeff Seddon)
Family farm threatened
BY JEFF SEDDON
Some members of
Huron county council feel
_._____that___.rur-a1__plaani-n-g-
designed to protect
agricultural land from
urban development has
gone overboard and is
threatening small family
farms•-•
Council met Friday
with Harold Flaming, a
field officer with the food
division of the provincial
ministry of agriculture
and food, and got some
insight intothe province's
philosophy on rural
planning. Flaming ex-
plained to council the
reasoning behind the
province's rural planning
decisions and the
government's desire to
protect good farmland in
Ontario and yet still give
the agricultural com-
munity some flexibility.
Flaming said the
province wanted to
prevent farmland from
being fragmented
through land severances
to the point that in-
dividual plots of land are
divided up into tiny
parcels that can't support
a viable farm operation.
He said small parcels, if
they are under the
ownership of a farmer
working a large amount
of land, can be part of a
viable farm operation but
on their own they cannot
be self sufficient farm
units.
The ministry worker
said the province wanted
to keep land units in rural
farm areas large enough
to permit flexibility. He
saidthe province wap not
restricting plot sizes
arbitrarily but rather
was trying to look at each
severance application on
its• ..-own---merit....-to_._deter-
mine if the results of the
severance leave lots that
can be farmed by an
individual or bought by
someone wanting to start
farming.
"There's no way
someone today can buy a
20 acre plot and start
farming but if that lot
was 80 or 100 acres he
may be able to," said
Flaming.
Morris township reeve
Bill Elston told council
that he felt the planning
practices had resulted in
many family farms being
taken over by huge
operations and the farm
buildings left to, decay.
Elston said planners had
refused --'%severances to
elderly farmers wanting
to sell land to another
farmer and stay in the
house and retire. But he
said in many cases the
severance was turned
down and the farmer left
with the option to sell his
land and move off the
farm or lease the land
and attempt to look after
the buildings himself.
The Morris reeve said
in many cases the farms
were absorbed by huge
cash crop operations and
the farmland was put
under crop by an ab-
sentee landlord: The
result, he said, was many.
farm buildings aban-
doned -a-nd-left-to-deea_y:
Warden Gerry Ginn
told council he felt that as
long as rural planning
was under the control of
the ministry of housing it
is going to be a "farce".
The warden said rural
planning, is done with
agriculture in mind and
should be handled by the
ministry of agriculture
and until it is "we're
wasting our cotton
picking time".
Ginn said planning is
designed to protect
farmland from urban
development,pointing out
that the province, has a
great deal of land of
lesser quality than Huron
County that could be used
for urban development
with no threat to the
province's agricultural
base. He said'he recently
drove to Huron County
from Ottawa and "never
did see any farmland
until I got within 100
• miles of Huron County".
"There's all kinds of
places in the province for
this kind of development.:
(urban).," said Ginn.
"Everyone is moving to
the country like
tomorrow is the last day
they can and there is a lot
of land being wasted,"
said Elston.
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•
glance at the plan showed
no definite problems but
the committee wanted to
be safe than sorry. He
said if a problem was
discovered. that could
surface in the future the
committee would appeal
to the township to alter
the plan to avoid the
conflict. He did not state
whether or not the airport
committee would object
to the plan if necessary.
In other business the
committee awarded
Dave Taylor of R.R. 1
Zurich the tender for the
lease of farm land at the
airstrip. Taylor was
awarded the lease at a
unit price of $27.50 an
acre for 146 acres of
farmland at Sky Harbor.
Taylor will be presented
a bill for $4,015 and the
list of restrictions placed
on the land according to
Federal Air Regulations.
Five tenders were
'received on the land.
Taylor bid $27.50 an acre,
James A. Culbert of R.R.
6 Goderich bid $27 an
acre, Glen Ribey of R.R.
6 Goderich. bid $26.71,
Steve Buchanan of R.R. 6
Goderich bid $26 and
Donald Nott of R.R. 4
Clinton bid $20 an acre.
The committee also
authorized the hiring of a
THE GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, SEPTEIVIBER.R
25,19787 -*PAGE 7
part time employee to
work weekends and
holidays at the airport.
Don Wheeler told the
committee that the
busiest time at the air-
port is w weekends and
holidays and during those
times airport co-
ordinator Ed Scruton is
not on duty. He suggested
that a student be hired on
a part time basis to fill in
for Scruton.
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