Mount Nemo

Protecting Escarpment Rural Land (PERL) and ResTerra Strategies are co-hosting a community forum to discuss and design a future vision for the Mount Nemo area of the Niagara Escarpment. The forum will feature special guests panelists and speakers including Burlington Mayor Cameron Jackson and Oakville Mayor Robert Burton.

For more information, please see the official announcement below, and the ResTerra Website.

Mount Nemo Community Forum
Join us to discover how poetry can be written back into our treasured UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve landform
Thursday September 18, 2008
Burlington Art Centre, Shoreline Room
7:00pm – 10:00pm
For more information please call or visit: www.resterrastrategies.com

OBJECTIVE
Burlington civic leaders have identified both a need and a desire for sustainable cultural and ecological development for citizens of our community and for visitors from across the region and country. Leadership has already brought us delightful examples of what is possible in projects such as the Burlington Waterfront Centre demonstrating that we can achieve a sustainable community on Mount Nemo, if we try and have the opportunity to work with exemplary practitioners.

Working in consultation with the public, Protecting Escarpment and Rural Lands (PERL) wants to envision a new cultural and natural heritage future forMount Nemo. With creative visioning we could imagine the possibilities of an outdoor amphitheatre for the arts, vineyard, an art gallery, observatories, trails, interpretive areas, and other opportunities for the site that are ecological sensitive, community-building and which showcase the best Burlingtonhas to offer. In demonstration of our commitment, PERL at its own initiative along with co-host ResTerra Strategies, invites you to participate in a Community Forum to explore and discuss possible options among local experts as well as hear from special guests Order of Canada architect Douglas Cardinal and his son Bret Cardinal.

SPECIAL GUESTS
Douglas J. Cardinal B.Arch., O.A.A., A.I.A., A.A.A., M.A.A., S.A.A., O.C., R.C.A.A., F.R.A.I.C., F.R.I.A.S is an order of Canada architect with an international reputation for excellence in natural design. He has been credited with having created an indigenous Canadian style of architecture with his curvilinear, organic and sustainable buildings. His significant commissions include the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Quebec, and theNational Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C.

Bret Cardinal VP, explored the rehabilitation and transformation of a quarry into an amphitheatre shaped in the form of a human ear for his Masters dissertation and has been with the firm of Douglas Cardinal Architect Inc. since July 1985. He brings to the team 19 years of extensive experience in all aspects of architectural design thru implementation including: visioning, programming, masterplanning, contract documents, architectural design, CAD programming, exhibit design, interior design and graphic design.

David Donnelly, co-founder ResTerra Strategies, is one of Canada’s leading environmental lawyers and advocate for smart growth, greenspace protection and aboriginal cultural heritage. He has been an advisor to all levels of government on law and planning reform, including the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the Ontario Environmental Bill of Rights and the 1.8 million acre Greenbelt Plan for Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe.

Remarks by Burlington Mayor Cameron Jackson and Oakville Mayor Robert Burton.

BACKGROUND
Halton is mandated by law to grow exponentially to 780,000 people by 2031 under the province’s Places to Grow Plan. It is also a requirement of this Plan however that this growth be balanced by a plan to preserve, protect and enhance our precious few remaining natural heritage system and core areas. As identified in Burlington’s State of the Environment Report, Mount Nemo is one of the best examples of high diversity and functioning ecosystems in the Greater Toronto Area.

Protecting Escarpment Rural Land (PERL) has requested funding from the Mayor’s Future Green Fund to undertake a scenario planning process, working with Mr. Cardinal and local experts to identify partners, and commit to drawings and implementation plans. Specifically, this process would begin by considering the transformation and rehabilitation of the exhausted 600 acre quarry on the jewel of the Escarpment as well as inform the development of a Natural Heritage System (NHS).

Located on the Niagara Escarpment and within the Ontario Greenbelt, these lands are relatively undisturbed and possess natural heritage features such as significant wetlands, woodlands, coldwater streams, headwater areas, meadow, and significant habitat for Species at Risk. Many of these features have been evaluated and designated for protection as Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI), Provincially Significant Wetlands (PSW), Regionally Significant Woodlands, and Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA).

The Mount Nemo plateau is a major source water area including headwaters of the Bronte, Grindstone, Lowville, Willoughby, Appleby, Mount Nemo,
Shoreacres and Tuck Creek systems. The NHS would protect the sensitive headwater areas of over 30 tributaries of these creek systems.

Section 2.1.2 of the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) directs that such features should be linked together as protected Natural Heritage Systems to ensure their continuing functions and diversity. Based on this direction Natural Heritage Systems have recently been established in North Oakville, Seaton, and Richmond Hill.

PERL has collected and reviewed an extensive amount of data outlining these features and has drawn on the four established principles of conservation biology to craft the proposed Mount Nemo Headwaters Natural Heritage System. BurlingtonGreen, OakvilleGreen, MiltonGreen, COPE, and CONE have all endorsed a Natural Heritage System for Mount Nemo.

THE COLLABORATORS
Protecting Escarpment Rural Land PERL is a citizen group dedicated to sustainability, quality of life, and the protection of the Niagara Escarpment, a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. Based in Burlington, PERL has been carefully reviewing and commenting on an application for a proposed below water table quarry on the sensitive Mount Nemo plateau on the Niagara Escarpment in Burlington.

ResTerra Strategies works with citizens, non-profits, business and government to foster cultural and ecological sustainability. We provide comprehensive, integrated services to support and develop partnerships that chart creative pathways, responding to specific needs in a manner most appropriate to the particular community and culture. Working collaboratively and applying a customized participatory process, we bring together all stakeholders with a core group of recognized experts to explore future scenarios that determine and promote sustainable outcomes.

SUPPORT
To support this ongoing work, PERL is having its annual fundraising concert featuring Sarah Harmer and Bruce Cockburn, on Saturday September 20th. For more information go to www.perlofburlington.org.