Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Ford says some Greenbelt land back

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said his government is looking at returning two parcels of land swapped out of the protected Greenbelt after learning the property owner has listed the land for sale.

He said the land was taken out of the Greenbelt in return for promises home construction would be undertaken, not sold to others.


Ford said in a statement Tuesday he recently learned that the owner of two sites in Ajax, east of Toronto, which were selected as part of the Greenbelt land-swap agreement with the Ontario government had put the land up for sale. 


He said at no point was the intention to sell disclosed to the government’s facilitator during discussions.


“This behaviour goes against everything that our government is doing to bring home ownership into reach for more people. In response, our government is exploring every option available to us, including immediately starting the process to put these sites back into the Greenbelt,” Mr. Ford said.


“To the other property owners, you’re on notice: if you don’t meet our government’s conditions, including showing real progress by year end with a plan to get shovels in the ground by 2025, your land will go back into the Greenbelt.”