Executive summary
- City of Burlington staff have reviewed the Region of Halton’s Draft Regional Official Plan Amendment (ROPA) No. 49 which was released on March 24th, 2022 for the statutory public consultation process.
- The process and detailed work undertaken to date in developing draft ROPA 49 has been comprehensive and collaborative.
- Staff have reviewed and provided the comments identified in this report to support the Region in the finalization of the amendment to implement the Integrated Growth Management Strategy.
Climate implications
- Burlington City Council declared a climate emergency in April 2019 in response to the concerns about the impact that a changing climate is having on the City and communities around the globe.
- On April 20, 2020 Council approved a Climate Action Plan which provides a framework to reduce the use of fossil fuels in the community, the main contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, which are causes of climate change.
- The Climate Action Plan focuses on the following key areas: low-carbon new buildings, deep energy retrofits for existing buildings, renewable energy, electric mobility and equipment, integrated mobility, waste reduction and industry innovation.
- The City is also developing Climate Resilient Burlington: A Plan for Adapting to Our Warmer, Wetter and Wilder Weather. The draft plan will be presented to City Council in May and the final in July 2022. Community Planning staff were represented on the staff stakeholder team. The five themes identified include: resilient built and natural infrastructure, thriving natural environment, health and well-being, disaster resilience, and strong and resilient economy.
- The Regional Official Plan and Burlington’s Official Plan have roles to play in ensuring that planning activities contribute to achieving the City’s climate change mitigation and adaptation objectives.
- In accordance with the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2019), planning in Burlington must have as a guiding principle the need to “integrate climate change considerations into planning and managing growth such as planning for more resilient communities and infrastructure –that are adaptive to the impacts of a changing climate- and moving towards environmentally sustainable communities by incorporating approaches to reduce greenhouse gas emissions” (Growth Plan, 2019, S.1.2.1)