CRAA February 2025 Newsletter
Leadership
Cramahe Residents Call Out Council
It has been a very interesting year in review.
Anonymous sources reported to several residents that a planed Asphalt Plant in Cramahe Township was being considered. The report was true. Residents took action!
The proposed Asphalt Plant would be built in a depleted Pit, that sits in a Watershed, abutting Environmentally Controlled Wetlands, on a poorly maintained municipal road, and where neighboring residential homes are within 90 metres or less of the planned Industrial Plant.
What could Possibly go wrong?
The CRAA provided Council with the intelligence needed to make a rational decision. Council, originally saw No problem with allowing a 24 hour a day operation for the proponents of the plan. The request was submitted to Council as if the “PIT” required the extended working hours. It was obviously NOT the PIT that would operate on this schedule but the proposed Asphalt Plant. The PIT exhausted its gravel deposits some years ago.
Alerting the community to this development via flyers and face book posts, the affected residents took a stand. The 1st Objection made by over 500 residents to the 24-hour-a-day schedule was softly supported by Council.
The 2nd Objection, the Asphalt Plant itself, met with resistance from the Municipal Council.
The Council believed they had NO say in the matter due to the current official plan. Again, the CRAA provided legal Opinion on the very issue of the Official Plan that would provide Council with legitimate legal reasoning in support of a “NO” response that would back their constituents.
Council Members, however, would not support the residents in the effort to Object to the ASPHALT PLANT proposal. Instead, opting to hide behind a zoning that may permit an Asphalt Plant as an accessory or as an associated operation to an active Pit or quarry, and claiming they have no voice in the matter.