Blog and Website Reconstruction

Emails to members are the communication method of choice right now. We will be creating one new interactive website in the near future. Until then, this blog and the existing site will continue.

AGM 2013

You are invited to attend the BVRA 2013 AGM on Saturday, February 2 at 3 pm in the Kimberley Hall. Our guest speaker is Paul McQueen, Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Grey Highlands. Deputy Mayor McQueen will bring us up to date on a number of initiatives being undertaken by Grey Highlands, including the status of the Water and Wastewater Master Servicing Plan and the Strategic Plan as well as news about the Talisman sale and the Inter-Municipal Wind Turbine Working Group. The Council and CAO of Grey Highlands will be invited and we hope many of them, as in past years, will be in attendance. We hope to see you there. The BVRA executive very much appreciates your continuing participation and support.

Grey County accepts County BVV Planning Report

On May 10 the County of Grey Planning and Community Development Committee accepted the County Planning Report recommending conditional draft plan approval of a 16-lot Beaver Valley Village subdivision. For the lot layout and the planning report as well as the BVRA critique of conditions see the page, DRAFT PLAN APPROVAL, above.

Grey Highlands Approves Municipality BVV Planning Report

On January 9, the Council of the Municipality of Grey Highlands voted to accept the Municipality Planning Report PL.12.02 for the Beaver Valley Village subdivision. The report recommends conditional approval of 16 lots on individual wells and septic systems. The balance of the property is designated for future development and density will depend on the type of servicing available. PL.12.02  has been forwarded to the County of Grey for consideration and recommendations from their planning department and for final approval by County Council.

Your BVRA executive had little time to assess this report before the Council meeting but we did note that conditions for groundwater protection, of which we were critical in the previous planning report, remained unchanged. The outstanding planning policy issues are, sign-off from the Ministry of the Environment and cumulative impact assessment. We hope to follow up with Grey County to ensure that these issues are resolved to our satisfaction. We have concerns about the nature of the public process during future consideration of development of the balance of the property. We intend to ensure that we have a role at that time.

In light of the Municipality's Water and Wastewater Servicing Master Plan Study, which both the Mayor and the CAO are confident will result in municipal servicing coming to the Valley, it is not difficult to understand the wish to move forward and leave the County to wrap up the "loose ends". Your board will continue to work hard on your behalf at the County level to address those loose ends - MOE sign-off, cumulative impact assessment, improved conditions for groundwater protection and a voice during future development planning for the property.

Beaver Valley Village Revised Planning Report

See the revised Beaver Valley Village Planning Report to be presented and voted on at the Municipality of Grey Highlands Council Meeting on January 9, 2012. We plan to attend and will keep you advised. If you have any comments on this report, let us know.

Meet the Mayor

We are pleased to announce that  Mayor Wayne Fitzgerald  will be our guest speaker at the 2012 AGM. There has been significant change in the vision for Grey Highlands, since the municipal election, and we encourage members to come out and hear what the new Council of Grey Highlands has planned, especially as it affects the Beaver Valley. In particular, learn more about the Water and Wastewater Servicing Master Plan, which proposes to bring municipal-style services to the area surrounding Hutchisons Corners.

Not a member? No worries - you can still attend the meeting.

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, January 21 at the Kimberley Community Hall at 3 pm.

The Bigger Question

The facts are that the County considers our area to be a "focus of growth" and "akin to a settlement area", the Municipality has zoned the area as "development" and the NEC designates the area as Escarpment Recreation, the least restrictive designation and in fact the area of the escarpment where growth should occur. The position of the BVRA is and has always been sustainable development, which protects the quality and quantity of groundwater in our neighbourhood.  If, as has been suggested by the Municipal planner, there will be a concurrent secondary plan for the area along with implementation of municipal servicing, then the concerns raised by the BVRA will have been addressed. Planned growth and protection of the water supply are fundamental to our position on the Beaver Valley Village proposal. The BVRA has officially supported the Grey Highlands Water and Wastewater Servicing Master Plan Study. 


No one, not the public, nor the BVRA nor the proponent anticipated this Grey Highlands initiative, announced last spring. It changed the game for us and for Mr. Kiener. If servicing goes ahead, the vision for the area changes significantly. Mr. Kiener or any another developer could then make a new proposal for the balance of the Beaver Valley Village site as well as the remaining undeveloped portions of this Escarpment Recreation Area. The future of our neighbourhood is growth. The BVRA, its members and all residents have an opportunity as well as a responsibility to participate in this process. This is a different and potentially much larger issue than Mr. Kiener's Beaver Valley Village proposal and one that, as an association, we need to talk about at the 2012 AGM on Saturday, January 21 at 3 pm in the Kimberley Hall.