As the city of Cambridge grows and expands outwards, at least one city resident is asking, “at what cost?”
For the last 10 years, Steve Wittman has walked his dog on a trail that will soon be home to the city's new recreation complex, schools and subdivisions in south Cambridge.
The forests and natural areas he used to enjoy are starting to disappear.
“We walk the dogs there every day on the weekends and we see the wildlife. It used to be so beautiful, we would see every animal you can imagine and now they're really gone,” Wittman said.
The clear-cutting that's been happening over the last two years to make room for multiple developments near Dundas Street South will eventually extend to Highway 97 in the southeast corner of Cambridge.
"Hundreds of acres of beautiful watershed, fields and forest being replaced with houses that 90 per cent of the population cannot afford," Wittman wrote in a letter to CambridgeToday. "I know this because they start their listings at $990,000 and sell for $1.2 million.
"The idea that Cambridge is the city of trees is a farse. Take a satellite view every 2 years for the last 10 years and see how fast these farms and forests are being chopped down."
Wittman is also concerned about the waterways in the area and the beaver habitats in the development zone.
“What are they going to do to preserve that creek, the vegetation and the wildlife? There are about three beaver dams in there, what's going to happen to them?” asked Wittman.
According to the federal government’s code of practise on beaver dam removal, they "need to be removed or breached periodically to protect, maintain or construct infrastructure or to avoid the flooding of private or public land.”
There is no real legislation for the protection of beaver habitats if they are obstructing development zones.
Another area of concern for Wittman is the removal of old growth trees to make way for the construction.
“115-year-old solid oak that wasn’t rotting and they cut it down. It was one of the most beautiful trees I've ever seen, I thought for sure they would save it,” he said. “How can you claim to be a tree city of the world and do this?”
The city has been working with developers on plans for this area for years, and according to officials, the necessary tree removal permits have been granted.
Ward 7 councillor Scott Hamilton, said that these developments didn’t happen overnight and they have been in the works for several years.
“The developers have been granted the proper permits to remove trees and are going to be planting more trees or paying the fees,” said Hamilton.
When new developments start to go up, even if the local residents are in favor, the cost and impacts they have on local wildlife and natural areas aren't often realized until trees start hitting the ground, Hamilton said.
The new subdivision and recreation complex will allow Cambridge to grow and bring more people to the city, and Cambridge will finally be getting a state of the art recreational facility that will be one of the best in the province, he added.
Even though change can be scary, Hamilton wants to embrace it and see Cambridge be on par with its sister cities like Kitchener, Waterloo and Guelph.
“I think for some of the residents who have been here for a while, seeing their surroundings change can be a bit difficult, but it's necessary for growth to happen,” said Hamilton.
Wittman is in favor of the city expanding, but he worries that with the battle between developments and local ecosystems, mother nature always gets the short end of the stick.
