Not yet, but it is formally attempting to do so. Their recently released official plan proposes to convert about 1500 hectares of protected land on the Oak Ridges Moraine into development. This land is conveniently located along Highway 400 north of Wonderland.
1500 hectares is equal in size to 4 concession blocks, or the area bounded by Yonge to Bathurst, Queen to Lawrence.
I don't have the news reference at hand, but hasn't Vaughan town council just approved the 1500 hectares for development? By a small majority, sometime in the last month? And there was the usual speculation about councillors' probable links with the developers.
I recall there was some attempt at justifications along the lines of "Well, you know, there are still X thousand hectares of Greenbelt remaining..." We Ontarians are stuck in some kind of time warp and denial about our province's urban development practises, constantly scoring points off each other "Greenie vs. Developer"--but the damage to our living environment just continues, along with the usual inane self-congratulation about this or that progressive element of policy.
Does anybody approving and building these stupid suburban developments, all the while vaunting their fiscal discipline and free market orientation, even think about, e.g., what the health costs are of even just a 5%/decade increase in prevalence of medical conditions brought on by increasing airborne pollution from all sources (particulate, chemical, etc.)? And what about the intangibles of a population increasingly out of contact with a natural environment, thus unable to recognize any interest other than those of their daily routines? Are the affected populations exclusively within the Vaughan municipal boundaries, so that those paragons of responsible municipal management can simply say "Go live elsewhere, if you don't like it here"?
The whole thing is an irrational mess. (O.K., I've vented my frustration for today.)
