While the public engagement process remains on-going, the Kent Federation of Agriculture has stated their position on a recently enacted clear cutting bylaw.
At their virtual meeting on Monday, April 26, 2021, Chatham-Kent Council voted in favour of immediately implementing the temporary by-law, which was originally presented to Council on February 11, 2013.
The bylaw is set to expire at the end if August, 120 days after Council approved the motion.
Along with the public engagement, Chatham-Kent staff was directed to explore potential incentives for landowners and best practices across the Province of Ontario.
KFA officials say in their view, the temporary bylaw “negatively impacts the property rights of all rural landowners in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent.
“Prior to the launch of the public consultation process, the KFA had offered on numerous occasions to be a primary source for consultation and discussion on this process, based on our industry representation; however, a third-party anonymous system was chosen to tabulate results and allow input from any source. Given that our members have the greatest stake in this proposed bylaw, we feel this approach is inequitable, ineffective and highly biased towards a specific pre-determined outcome,” KFA officials stated in a media released issued on July 1, 2021.
A recent special board of directors meeting of the KFA was held to “clearly determine our position” on the temporary bylaw.
“At this special meeting, two motions were passed: 1) The Kent Federation of Agriculture takes the position on behalf of our membership that there should be no tree cutting bylaw in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent. 2) The Kent Federation of Agriculture participated in the creation of a Natural Heritage Strategy seven years ago. We continue to support this strategy and must participate in any updates to this strategy.”
KFA officials say in a follow up with the Municipality, they have encouraged an open and effective discussion on this subject, and remain hopeful that they will accept our offer.
KFA officials say they represent well over 1,800 primary producers and agri-business in Chatham-Kent.
“Our primary focus is a strong and sustainable agricultural sector,” KFA officials say.
“Our success is evident as agriculture in Chatham-Kent remains this municipality’s largest economic driver.”
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent continues to invite residents to share their views on the issue of woodlot preservation in the community, Municipal officials say.
At the June 14, 2021 council meeting, administration provided Council with an overview of the community engagement process and the online engagement platform that will be used to gather resident feedback.
The online platform guides residents through a series of questions and asks them to share their thoughts on options to manage woodlots through potential education programs, incentives and regulations, Municipal officials added.
“Council has been clear in its desire to have administration develop and propose options for managing woodlots based on a full community engagement process,” stated Bruce McAllister, general manager of community development, in a press release.
“Given the importance of the subject to council and the community, we wanted to make every effort to bring awareness to this engagement and the possibility for the community to provide input.”
Administration has also developed a broad community awareness and outreach campaign that employs a variety of media to bring awareness to this engagement process.
This includes direct mail outs to all landowners of woodlots, a media release, a local radio ad campaign, a local newspaper ad campaign and a social media campaign, Municipal officials say.
The online engagement platform can be accessed through the www.letstalkchatham-kent.ca “Consultation on Council’s Woodlot Motion” project page and will be open until July 9, 2021.
In addition, a Virtual Town Hall Meeting was held on Tuesday, June 29, 2021.
The information report received by Council on Monday can be read, here.
For more background on the story from April, click here.
