The order comes years after the sale of the subsidiary, which had cleaned up the site to the Ministry's satisfaction in the 1980s. More next month. The decision came in an appeal against the Perth County official plan and West Perth zoning by-law. The Board accepted that municipal control of factory farms is appropriate for public health and safety. Manure spills have been the leading cause of fish kills in Ontario since 1988.
Provincial policies are inadequate, reactive and poorly enforced.
Large factory farmsare a new phenomenon on the agricultural landscape, and they bring new problems and risks. The municipality needs, and in the Board's opinion now has, planning tools available to regulate these large scale operations. Wide open expansion cannot be at the expense of the environment when the health and safety of citizens is a priority. The Board did reluctantly strike down one part of the official plan that required manure to be spread within 8 kilometres of the barn. They agreed that control of the transportation of manure is not part of land-use planning.