Two Ontario municipalities are asking the provincial government to reimburse them for work on the now-reversed Greenbelt land removals in their communities.
Premier Doug Ford admitted last month that it was a mistake to remove 15 parcels from the protected Greenbelt for housing development, and his government has now started the process to return them.
But Pickering – home to the largest of the Greenbelt parcels – and Grimsby say they spent a lot of money and staff time working on those plans.
Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe wrote in a letter to Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra that the city appreciates the province’s reconsideration of its Greenbelt plans, but it can’t overlook the significant amount of resources already spent on the project.
Pickering staff have tallied just over $360,000 in direct and indirect costs, with more than $178,000 paid to an economic consulting firm for a financial impact analysis.
Grimsby town council unanimously passed a motion recently to call on the province to reimburse their municipality for about $82,000 dollars.
The government did not immediately say how it would respond to the municipalities’ requests.