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Protesters wave “red flag” on asphalt plant proposal GREGGCHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca route in and out of the site. There are also worries about noise pollution.
“The object of our group,” said Lavoie, “is to have the (township) council vote against the rezoning (request).” The group has a temporary website set up at www.nzap.ca, and is also working on plans to appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) if the OP and rezoning chang- es are allowed. An afternoon community barbecue/information gathering is planned for Aug. 11 at 6560 County Road 17, adja- cent to the site for the proposed asphalt plant. For now the proposal is still in the re- view process. Other government ministries and agencies like the South Nation Con- servation Authority (SNC) are reviewing the proposal and sending briefs with their comments and concerns. NZAP is collect- ing copies of as many of these briefs as are available for review and study. “We’re following this process very closely,” Lavoie said. “We want to keep the people informed.” A public information and feedback ses- sion on the asphalt plant and the rezoning request was held July 16. Another may be held at a later date. The municipality has a 180-day grace period before council votes on the rezoning request. “It’s really a short time,” Lavoie said. “We have to work really hard. The people have to make it very clear, so there is no doubt in the minds of the councillors that when they vote ‘no’, that is what we want.”
Plantagenet | A group of homeowners is taking a page out of the toreador’s man- ual and dangling a red cloth in front of a company that is bullish on setting up an asphalt plant next door to local farmlands. “We’re going red,” said Suzanne Lavoie, with a chuckle, as she explained the first public relations tactic for No Zoning for As- phalt Plant for Plantagenet (NZAP), a grass- roots protest group fighting a proposed as- phalt plant project. P.B. Paving & Landscaping wants the zon- ing designation for some property on Con- cession 2 off of County Road 17 near Jes- sop’s Falls changed to allow development of an asphalt plant. Neighbouring house- holders and farmers opposed to the project are now tying red ribbons, scarves, T-shirts, and other pieces of cloth to their roadside mailboxes to catch the attention and pro- voke the curiosity of passing motorists. “It’s to increase awareness,” Lavoie said. “There are still a lot of people who don’t know about this.” The future of the asphalt plant proposal hinges on the company getting approval from both the United Counties of Prescott- Russell (UCPR) and Alfred-Plantagenet Township for an amendment to the UCPR Official Plan (OP) for land use in the area, which would then open the way for rezon-
ing of the property. The main concerns for the group, and oth- er residents in the area, are the environmen- tal and safety impacts of an asphalt plant in the neighbourhood. Local landowners are
worried what effect the plant could have on the water table and air quality. There is con- cern about the suggestion that at full pro- duction, the plant could see up to 40 trucks an hour using County Road 17 as the main
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