The Municipality of Clarington Council has approved an official plan amendment that would allow a wetland on lands at the southwest corner of Nash Road and Bowmanville Avenue to be removed as part of a future Brookhill neighbourhood development.
The municipality claimed environmental studies reviewed by it, its independent environmental consultant and the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority (Cloca), found the wetland is isolated from the broader natural heritage system and has limited ecological and hydrological function.
It further claimed that experts concluded that retaining the wetland within the planned urban neighbourhood would likely lead to its long-term degradation due to increasing isolation.
Compensation Plan
To offset its removal, a future compensation plan must deliver a net environmental gain within the Bowmanville Creek watershed through the creation, restoration or enhancement of wetlands and other natural heritage features at a minimum ratio of three hectares for every hectare removed, said the municipality.
The wetland also cannot be removed until a detailed compensation and implementation plan is completed by the applicant and approved by the municipality, it added.
You May Also Like To Read
16-year old in e-scooter crash suffers life-altering injuries