[getsmart-l] Hey its never too late, but its now or ever for the remaining foodlands in a town called "Big Nothing"

[23skidoo]

May 23,2007

Jeff Pasquale, 
Editor
Brampton Guardian
Email: j.pasquale at thebramptonguardian.com


Dear Editor;
Re: Brampton Guardian May 23/07 - Too late to save farmland

Hey its now or never for the foodlands we have left and only too late for the lands already plundered.. 

What local environmentalists are suggesting here is actually that a total development freeze is in order. This as opposed to Brampton's 5,500 housing cap which is an outrageously high number considering past development patterns recklessly centralized here.

The remaining farms in Brampton, the GTA and surrounding greenbelts should be treated like the golden goose and preferably left do its best work - for all of us who'll always need to eat - as opposed to being cooked for the benefit of a few short sighted opportunists freewheeling their greed and plunder. 

In curious juxtaposition on the opposite page of this letter is an Op Ed 'feel good about Brampton'  piece from our mayor who boasts of a "happy" community with "lots of things to do"???
Get a grip.
This is nothing but a bedroom community where most people barricade themselves away in backyards or in apartments and rooming houses trying for any possible chance of privacy they can get. Yet they keep on piling in more people. 

You see Brampton is unique and has been completed with an astounding 80-20% ratio of housing to places of employment., and that might in fact be a generous figure. This place we call home is a virtual endless wall of sprawl and between waiting on the highway to get to and from work in a likely 2-3 hour commute for most of us working poor, the only thing left to do here in a town called "Big Nothing" is sleep.

Film at 11:00

Sincerely;

Steven Kaasgaard
53 Corby Crescent
Brampton, ON
L6Y-1H3
Phone: (905) 459-2070
Email: 23skidoo at ica.net


***

http://www.bramptonguardian.com/editorial/article/24968

Too late to save farmland 
Tuesday May 22 2007 
As an active environmentalist here in Brampton for most of my life trying to preserve farmland and our necessary natural green spaces from the endless wave of urban sprawl, I find it peculiar The Brampton Guardian would suddenly find the merits of producing food locally, as suggested by Alan Hickman's Eclectic Gardener column of Friday, May 18, while at the same time ignoring numerous letters from us local greens and other environmentalists over the years which desperately tried to make the same point and save those farmlands for what they were intended for-- producing our food. 
Unfortunately for Mr. Hickman and the others in Peel who did see the benefits of having local farmlands preserved-- that possibility is virtually out of reach since much of the best class 1, 2, and 3 prime food lands are now currently under pavement or are rezoned and slated to be cemented over with more housing and development on the way. 

Hopefully this hard-learned lesson will not go unnoticed by other communities like and in greenbelts where people still have local farmlands they can preserve. 

Steven Kaasgaard, Brampton

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