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Brief to Niagara Falls City Council
re: Need to Protect Thundering Waters Forest
August 23, 2016
From Dr. John Bacher (PhD), Chair Greening Niagara
1. City Council and Planning Department Thanked
For Listening
I thank City Council and your planning Department
for listening to my presentations and submissions over
the past several months, many of which are contained in
your package this evening. I agree with the Planning Department’s conclusions about the inadequate nature of
the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and the need
to resolve native land claims. The main difference I have
with their conclusions is minor. Their comments on the
need for future bridges not disputed by me. However,
they are also a troubling sign of the hidden environmental impacts of what is termed “The Paradise” proposal.
Building a new bridge over either the Welland River or
the Power Canal will have negative environmental impacts,
such as forest destruction.
2. City Council Should Not Be Intimidated by Threat
of an Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) appeal by developer
At the outset I wish to stress that the Niagara Falls
Council should not be intimidated by the threat of an
appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board, (OMB) by the
developer of its decision, or lack of decision. This arises
out of the situation, which is quite unusual within urban boundaries, that virtually all of the lands on the site
which are not provincially significant wetlands, are provincially significant forests. These significant forests are designated in the region’s and city’s plans as Environmental