Council for the Municipality of West Grey have asked staff to prepare a bylaw to rezone lands along Concession 4 NDR to allow for the development of a gravel pit.
The application from landowner Don Tremble was submit back in 2023, noting that his company Candue Homes needed raw material after costs went up.
Neighbours in the area have pushed back against the project, citing concerns with having another gravel pit in the area, the environmental impact, noise and the damage the trucks could do to the roads. The public shared their concerns through letters, at a public meeting last summer, as well as by bringing a delegation to Tuesday's meeting.
However, Councillor Doug Hutchinson said an aggregate impact study, hydrogeological review and noise impact study have all been completed and addressed in the application.
"A lot of people don't like gravel pits, just as some don't like windmills, solar panels, battery storage, radio towers; but they are necessary for energy and development." he said. "The ruling bodies have requested a number of studies and the proponent of this gravel pit have provided these... to not support this application would only lead to an appeal, which will create delay and more cost, with the same outcome."
While the 14 neighbours in the area that oppose the project won't be able to appeal council's rezoning to the Ontario Land Tribunal, Ron Davidson, a planning consultant handling the file Tremble, told council that regardless of their decision, neighbours will have an avenue to challenge their application for an aggregate licence.
"If council does approve the rezoning application, even though the neighbours can't appeal the rezoning, they still will have an opportunity to present their case to the Ontario Land Tribunal under the Aggregate Resources Act," he said. "Now that's up to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to decide if they're going to forward it to the OLT... I've been involved in lots of pits and quarries, I've never seen one where they haven't granted that."
Along with recommendations from the reviews that should mitigate any negative impacts, a haul route agreement will also be signed between West Grey and Trumble. The agreement will require Trumble to upgrade the intersection of Concession 4 and Mulock to address sight-line concerns.
