Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule on Tuesday to listen to our presentation on behalf of the Agricultural
Business Communities of Perth East, Perth South and Wilmot West. This same presentation was made at the MTO
Stakeholder meeting on March 27, 2010. The ABC continues to strive to assist MTO and its consultants to understand the
business of agriculture so that they can make the best decisions in their selection of a route for Highway 7&8. The intent of
this presentation was to once again bring information to the consultants so that they can accurately interpret agriculture
and apply reliable criteria to the study area.
It is clear to ABC that the MTO consultants still do not fully understand agriculture, the regulatory environment it
operates in and the geographic complexity of viable agricultural business units. The planning process does not appear to
accommodate the complexities of proposing large infrastructure projects in areas of class 1 and 2 agricultural land.
One producer from our examples, who makes 780 trips per year for the movement of manure, has determined that each
additional minute it takes to move manure, costs his farm business two dollars/minute. One doesn’t have to be a
mathematician to appreciate the implications of the "nuisance factor" for access or the impact on compensation costs for
those whose lands are eventually affected by highway development.
The consultants have been focused on the development of planning criteria and a rationale for route selection. The
Agriculture Business Community looks forward to reviewing any application of their criteria as it relates to agriculture
and the rational used in their selection of a preferred route for the Shakespeare study area at the next PIC scheduled for
early summer. We hope the issues we brought to your attention can be resolved to ensure this process is real and useful
for all of us.
Sincerely