Community Information Notice
Sharing with the community on behalf of PWEP.
Friends,
We’re following up on our message from a couple of weeks ago regarding the new Bruce County Official Plan. So far the planners, county and municipality haven’t budged on their Secondary Urban designation of Inverhuron. We need to ramp up the pressure.
The county must receive written comments by June 4th in order to include the public feedback in the County Council’s agenda. Please take a few minutes to send in your comments as soon as you can. We can’t emphasize enough how important it is that especially the County, and also the Municipality of Kincardine, hear from as many of us as possible by June 4th. Please feel free to use any or all of the following text; personalizing it will make your comment even stronger.
To Bruce County Council and the Municipality of Kincardine:
The new Bruce County Official Plan proposes to designate Inverhuron as a Secondary Urban Community. As a resident of Inverhuron, I strongly oppose this land use designation. Because up to 80% of new development in the coming decades is slated to take place in Primary and Secondary Settlement Areas, I am extremely concerned about the negative impacts such an intensification of development would have on Inverhuron, both environmentally and in terms of the safety and financial security of the existing community. The Philosopher’s Wool Environmental Preserve (PWEP), Inverhuron’s conservation organization, has clearly outlined these concerns.
Fragile natural environments throughout Inverhuron, many of which are home to endangered and threatened species, would be at risk of being destroyed.
There is no adequate infrastructure in Inverhuron to sustain the level of development typical of a Secondary Urban Community, nor is it financially viable / environmentally responsible to add those services. The assumption that we, the existing residents and local taxpayers, should pay for the installation of expensive services in order to facilitate access for developers, is unacceptable.
I therefore request that you implement PWEP’s Alternative Land Use Proposal (which can be found on the PWEP website and has been made available to County planners since the very beginning of the OP review), and revert the designation of Inverhuron to Hamlet.
Please add my comment to the County Council’s June 4th agenda, as well as to the public record, and circulate it to Kincardine municipal council. Furthermore, I understand that by submitting this comment prior to the Public Meeting on June 18th 2026, I reserve the right to appeal (or join an appeal of) the decision of Bruce County regarding the Draft Official Plan to the Ontario Land Tribunal.
Please send your comments to the County and MoK by June 4th, as follows:
clerk@brucecounty.on.ca
planthebruce@brucecounty.on.ca
clerk@kincardine.ca
If you can, please also send your comment directly to council members, as follows:
Bruce County Council:
CPeabody@brucecounty.on.ca
DMurray@brucecounty.on.ca
KCraig@brucecounty.on.ca
LCharbonneau@brucecounty.on.ca
MGoetz@brucecounty.on.ca
MMcIver@brucecounty.on.ca
SHammell@brucecounty.on.ca
jkirkland@brucecounty.on.ca
MoK Council:
kcraig@kincardine.ca
bstewart@kincardine.ca
asteinhoff-gray@kincardine.ca
mhinchberger@kincardine.ca
rcavanagh@kincardine.ca
jprenger@kincardine.ca
bblackwell@kincardine.ca
swilliams@kincardine.ca
You can also read PWEP’s Open Letter to Bruce County and MoK on our website.
The Public Meeting regarding the Official Plan is on June 18th, at 9:30am. in the Bruce County Council Chambers at 30 Park St., Walkerton. PWEP members will be there. We encourage you to attend along with us and voice your concerns to the County Council. Having a strong show of community presence will be really important.
As a reminder, the new BC Official Plan will shape planning and development throughout the County for the next 20 years, until 2046. This is the time to stand together and fight hard to protect Inverhuron for the coming decades. Let’s get it done!
Thank you all for your tireless support. We can’t do this without you.
P.S. The Ontario Farmland Trust is hosting an invasive species removal and native species planting event at Bourgeois Farm on Saturday, June 6th from 1:00 to 4:30 pm. Here’s a link to read more about the event and register if you’re interested.
Invasive Species Removal and Spring Planting Event
In gratitude,
The Team @ PWEP
The Philosopher’s Wool Environmental Preserve
2 Alma Street
Tiverton, ON
pwepreserve@gmail.com