In a narrow decision, Chatham-Kent’s Council has put an end to a temporary bylaw that banned the clear-cutting of woodlots within the municipality.
During Monday night’s meeting, council voted 9-8 in favour of a motion from Councillor Steve Pinsonneault to remove the temporary clear-cutting bylaw, which had been in place since April 2021.
The bylaw was initially passed to prevent vast tree-cutting while council developed a natural heritage policy that would help to improve forest cover within the municipality. However, no permanent decisions were made ahead of the last municipal election and the issue was deferred to the new term of council.
A competing motion put forward by Councillor Aaron Hall was also up for debate on Monday, which called for an extension of the temporary clear-cutting bylaw and to have the Natural Heritage Committee continue its work on a municipal strategy to address tree coverage. Once council voted to remove the temporary bylaw, Hall withdrew his motion.
Several residents, including farmers, local residents and other stakeholders, delivered deputations during the meeting ahead of council’s vote.
The Kent Federation of Agriculture (KFA) has been opposed to the clear-cutting bylaw for some time, saying it negatively impacts the property rights of all rural landowners in the municipality.
“With the Ontario Minister of Agriculture recently calling on farmers to increase production by 30 per cent, Chatham-Kent farmers are ready to step up,” said KFA President Brad Snobelen in his deputation. “In order for our farms to remain competitive and profitable, farmers need to be in control of their land — that’s the message that the Kent Federation of Agriculture is hearing from our more than 1,850 members.”
Alternatively, local resident Denise Shepherd endorsed the bylaw and called on council to move forward with a natural heritage strategy that protects CK’s remaining forest cover.
“Years of review, reams of paper, and hours in board rooms have been directed towards establishing a natural heritage policy intended to protect the natural features of our area for the long term,” she said. “The existing woodlots are a unique ecological feature that once gone, will be gone forever.”
According to a report prepared by the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority in late 2021, Chatham-Kent lost over 2,036 acres of forest cover between 2010 and 2020. As a comparison, the loss is about the size of about 1,000 Canadian football fields. Chatham-Kent’s has one of the lowest tree-cover percentages in the province at around 3.5 percent.
