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Dufferin residents worried ag lands going to the pits

Concerned citizens meeting in Honeywood Saturday

BY Kurtis Elsner, Staff June 18, 2009 17:06

A group of Dufferin residents are worried thousands of acres of farmland in that county could one day be turned into open pit quarries.

For the past three years, a group of investors represented by the Highland Companies has been buying potato farmland in Melancthon and Mulmur townships. Right now they own about 2,600 hectares (6,500 acres). While the land is still being farmed as part of a massive potato operation, the North Dufferin Community and Agricultural Taskforce (NDACT) is worried that one day much of that land could become quarries. The group of concerned residents formed in January to try and stop the development of what it says is prime agricultural land.

“The aggregate is what he’s after,” said NDACT chair Dale Rutledge, referring to Highland Companies principal John Lowndes. “We’re figuring on a 5,000-acre hole eventually. They’ll start off with a couple hundred acres and keep going.”

Rutledge currently farms about 2,000 acres in the area. He said he too was approached by the company with an offer to buy, which ranged from $5,000 per acre to $8,000. Rutledge said he turned it down because his family has farmed the area for seven generations, dating back to the 1880s.

Michael Daniher, a spokesperson for the Highland Companies, confirmed the group is exploring the potential of mining aggregates from the land. He said the company’s primary interest remains to be agribusiness though. Daniher said the Highland Companies, through various smaller labels, is the largest potato producer, packer and distributor in Ontario, producing over 100 million potatoes annually.

“The farm business has been very important, as it will continue to be moving forward,” he said.

He said the company has been honest with residents and made itself clear that, along with farming, it intended on exploring quarry and wind energy production, both practices that currently exist in Dufferin County.

Daniher said he doesn’t know how much land could end up being used for aggregate, but said the company intends on maintaining a “good chunk” for farm use. He also said the company is required by law to restore any land that it does use for aggregate.

“Let’s be clear. It certainly won’t be a 5,000-acre hole in the ground,” he said.

He said the company is currently researching how to return former quarries back into agricultural production.

Highland has also acquired an Orangeville-Brampton railway and is currently interested in purchasing a railway running north, past the land it owns in North Dufferin, generating speculation among some residents that the company is intending on sending mass quantities of goods out of the county.

Despite Highland’s comments, NDACT remains concerned with the quarry operations. Rutledge said his committee wants to see the farmland used for just that - farming.

“We’d like to see him growing potatoes,” he said.

NDACT is holding another public meeting this Sat., June 20. It is from 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. at the Honeywood Arena, at 706114 Dufferin County Road 21.

A previous edition of this story inaccurately converted the hectare/acre ratio. The area of land in question is 2,600 hectares (6,500 acres). The Herald regrets the error and appologizes for any confusion it caused.

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