Proposed 40,000-person development near Port Dover divides rural community

The provincial government’s push for housing and development is dividing the people of a mainly rural community in Haldimand County.

Developers are proposing a huge new housing development of 40,000 people near Port Dover, but the project is facing opposition.

This is a conflict between people who like things the way they are in their community and say the cost of change, both socially and financially, would be too high. Others say the project would mean a new era of jobs and prosperity.

In the areas around Port Dover and leading into the town, “No MZOs” is a common sign. MZOs are Ministerial Zoning Orders, the method the provincial government is proposing to use to clear the way for a massive project of building and business development near Port Dover.

“It is a bad idea. This MZO will create residential use in an industrial park,” said Haldimand Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley.

The project would see houses built along with light businesses in a huge area next to Stelco’s Lake Erie Works. The development would cover about 1,700 hectares of land with as many as 15,000 homes for an estimated 40,000 people.

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Just east of Port Dover, opponents say the community’s infrastructure — including things like roads, schools, health care, policing and traffic — are already overworked and cannot handle that many people.

“Who will pay for that wastewater treatment plant to service the industrial park area and the residential use that is coming? Who will pay for the extra health care that’s going to be required for that area? Who is going to pay for the new school that is going to be required?” said Bentley. “It’ll fall on the backs of the taxpayers of Haldimand County.”

Opponents are also worried about losing the jobs that already exist at Lake Erie Steelworks if it has to co-exist next to 15,000 homes, citing concerns about industrial pollution.

“No industry is going to continually put up with the continual attacks on, ‘oh my house needs to be power washed, my windows need to be cleaned,’ and these are the types of things that the companies get hit with from people living near industrial parks,” said Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Bobbi Ann Brady. “I know so many families who depend on a career at the industrial park and we are at risk of losing that.”

However, Dennis Travale, a former mayor of Norfolk County, says the development will mean housing, jobs, investment and infrastructure for the region. He notes that it will be done over decades, taking as much as 80 years.

But residents like Brittany Brodie are afraid of what they will be losing.

“We don’t want it. We don’t have enough room in the town,” Brodie said. “It’s a small town, you can walk into any store. I walk into the convenience store with my kids and, ‘Hi Brittany, hi Blake, hi Paisley.’ You know, everybody knows everybody by name. And 40,000 people coming in, that’s crazy.”

As for the Ministerial Zoning Order, the provincial government is putting the MZO out for consultation with the public. Meanwhile, word has spread that a rally is planned for Friday for opponents to speak out against the proposal.

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