A proposed gravel pit at Trout Lake has been stopped for now by a provincial tribunal.
The Local Planning Appeals Tribunal repealed a zoning by-law passed on June 5, 2019 by the Lakehead Rural Planning Board to rezone a property at Trout Lake for the purposes of developing a gravel pit operation.
Dr. Karen Peterson is the President of the Trout Lake Campers’ Association, which has been opposing the project out of concern for the environment and area residents.
“There would be a number of trucks, for example, going down the highway,” Dr. Peterson points out, along with impacts on “health and safety, dust issues, loss of biodiversity, water quality, air quality.”
The Campers’ Association President says the matter has been sent back to the Planning Board for a new decision.
She explains the Tribunal ruled the Board “failed to consider the accompanying social and environmental impacts including those of health and safety, air and water quality, vulnerable surface and ground water, ecosystems and biodiversity.”
Dr. Peterson says her organization wants to be involved in the process going forward.
