Photo Gallery - NEC Policies Versus Reality

A Photo Gallery Illustrating the Reality of This Situation

To highlight the contrast between the policies and reality, excerpts from the NEC concerning conservation and wildlife preservation are included, following the photos. 

Welcome to what might be called The NEC Policies Versus Reality page.

 Photo Gallery

 Following the photos and captions, you’ll be able to read some very admirable sentiments written in quotations from the NEC itself.  Check it out, and see for yourself how stringently these policies are being enforced. 

A great deal of damage has been done to the natural environment as a result of what we see as the negligence of the agencies involved   Now, when we look out the windows of our home, instead of once-beautiful views and a wildlife system that worked splendidly, we see betrayal on all sides.  This situation is absolutely unacceptable, and must be remedied before any more serious damage occurs.  There’s a cynical game being played over here, just out of sight of the road.  It is putting animal and human safety at risk, and it will only get worse until someone with authority puts a stop to this flagrant misbehaviour.  

Anyway, here’s reality.  Here’s what’s really been going on at 979 Governors Road, just up behind the trees:

 

 Chomper in protected trees 

See that pile of stuff behind the swings?  That’s one of the many mounds of wood chips we saw created last winter.  Those chips had been 30’ conifers only hours before.  The trees themselves were each uprooted, not cut, and flung down heavily on the frozen January ground.  Using the heavy-handed instruments of destruction we witnessed here, pulling up a huge tree takes no more time than pulling a weed.  This is disturbing knowledge I wish I didn’t have.  As we told the NEC planner we consulted with back in 2013, we did not want a front row to destruction – and yet that is what we have here, in spades.  This tree destruction went on for weeks; the contractors kept the wood chipper and chainsaws busy throughout January 2015.

The garage to the left and children’s swings are on our property.  The swing on the right was formerly my favourite outdoor place to work (I’m a writer).  It was secluded, shady and incredibly beautiful up there.  This was one of the few places you could sit quietly and watch the ongoing wildlife activity in the old deer yard.  I saw a wide variety of animals up there every day.  There were fireflies every night in midsummer. 

Though I usually wrote up here, I also took photographs.  Had I known the deer yard was doomed, I would have taken many more – but, in those days, we still believed what we had been told about the protection of wildlife habitats.  Now, I’m very glad I took those photographs when I did. 

Without the photographs, there would be absolutely no evidence that the deer yard ever existed.  That is why we feel it is vitally important to share them online.  More eyes than ours need to witness what has happened here.   

 

 Burning trees

As if all the wood chipping wasn’t enough – the contractors also burned the uprooted trees, for weeks on end, throughout January 2015.  This photo was taken on a low-smoke day.  On heavy-smoke days, I couldn’t bear to go outside in it.  Some days, driving south down Weirs Lane toward Governors Road, the smoke blown across it was so thick you could barely see the road.  The residents along lower Weirs must have been choking, that terrible month.

One cold January day, my hopes soared when I saw a fire engine pulled up at the bottom of our driveway, and several firefighters came up to investigate the forest fire.  It seems a neighbour had called to report a forest fire.  Now, perhaps, someone with some authority would finally tell these careless contractors to cease and desist!  Alas, no.  What I saw from my dining room window was very disturbing.  The firefighters and contractors appeared to be very chummy.  Only a few minutes after they arrived, after back-slapping and guffawing together at the top of the driveway, the firefighters said goodbye to the contractors and walked back down the driveway.  The fire truck went away.  The burning continued, just as before.  During this time, we called the City of Hamilton to inquire whether or not there had been a Burn Permit issued.  The City refused to tell us.    

 Pile of dead trees

Apologies for the blurriness here – my hands shake when I’m upset, and taking these photographs was incredibly upsetting.  This is one of far too many piles of dead trees we witnessed throughout the winter.  

Remains of protected trees

This bleak and barren landscape once contained trees designated “protected” by the Niagara Escarpment Commission and were clearly shown as such on their tree map.  To our distress, we were the only people involved who ever seemed to refer to the tree map.  Early on, the property owner said to clear it all out.   Regardless of any rules or guidelines, that’s just what the contractors did. 

 

Should contractors and their clients be making the environmental policies of this valley? Sadly, I’m beginning to think “Nature Be Damned” might make a fitting slogan for the Dundas Valley to come.

Here are some “Before” photos, to show you how inviting the wildlife corridor was (and still is) to animals.  To highlight the contrast between the policies and reality, excerpts from the NEC concerning conservation and wildlife preservation are noted below.  This is well worth a visit.  See for yourself how these lofty words measure up to the pictorial evidence of what’s been going on.    

Wildlife corridor looking north - Aug 2014

This primary wildlife corridor on our property offers wildlife access to our back yard, just up to the left at this point.  It also used to offer access to the the deer yard, up at the top.  About one-fourth of the deer (the bolder ones) came up into our yard, before going on up the hill through the deer yard’s backyard entrance.  That old backyard entrance is now fenced off, and the deer yard is gone.

Wildlife corridor secondary path

This secondary wildlife corridor lies just to the right of the one above. 

When winter snowfalls tell their tales at the southern end of these two corridors, as they do in the photo below, they clearly show both “lanes” are extremely busy, with a variety of animal tracks.    

However, larger animals can now only turn around when they reach the barriers at the top, then eventually head back down across Governors Road.  This creates an unsafe situation for both deer and humans.

 Wildlife corridor Sept 2014

This was the top of our wildlife corridor in September, 2014 – the good old days, before any destruction or fencing took place.  This is a very busy route in every season – and is it any wonder?  Can you imagine a more inviting path for wildlife than this?  About three-fourths of the deer took this route, going straight on up to shelter in the deer yard (which used to be just above here and to the left, where the hill in the photo rises).  The pond they all drank from lies straight ahead, in the thick forest. 

This route is now fenced off and impassable.  The deer yard has been destroyed.  The pond, though still up there, is now inaccessible to many of the wildlife who depended on it.  Deer approaching from the south now turn back and drink from the ditch along Governors Road.

 

See the conifer to the right of the bare deciduous tree?  That’s one of ours, and it’s in a bad way since all that destruction last January.  Until the far-too-close, relentless bashing and smashing on the frozen ground, this tree stood as straight as an arrow and was very healthy.  Now it is dying from the top, as they do when their shallow roots are disturbed, and beginning to droop down onto its neighbour.  If/when we lose this tree, we also lose what very little privacy is still left in our back yard.  Another tree, in our deer corridor, has fallen over completely. 

All of this damage could have been avoided, had the development respected the “Development Zone” clearly shown on the approved plans.

 

 

Here are a few shots of the aftermath. 

Top of deer corridor – winter tracks

All the deer that came up this corridor last winter, looking for the old reliable shelter and water they have used for generations, were stopped short by the fencing.

 

 

Tracks – deer stopped at fence

The tracks and deer poop here clearly show where deer are now stopped at the fence.  This is where the old entrance to the deer yard from our back yard was.

(The one and only good thing about the damage and destruction done during the deep freeze of winter was that snow was so often on the ground.  When it comes to showing where deer go, snow is our friend!)

The 3 agencies involved have all refused to address this situation in a timely manner.

They did not do their jobs.  Why on earth are our taxes paying the employees of these agencies?

It appears that only the interests of the property owners and their contractor are being protected – certainly not wildlife or the natural environment.

Why is this blatantly bad behaviour being rewarded?

 

 

What follows are the Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC) policies and development permit conditions regarding tree and wildlife preservation regarding construction at 959 Governors Road.   Pertinent excerpts include:

NEC Policies:

Section 2.7 - New Development Within Wooded Areas

The objective is to ensure that the new development should preserve as much as possible of wooded areas

1. Disturbance of treed areas should be minimized, and proposed developments in heavily treed areas shall have site plan agreements containing specific management details regarding the protection of existing trees.

2. Trees to be retained should be protected by means of snow fencing, wrapping, or other acceptable means during construction (e.g. tree wells).

Section 2.8 – Wildlife Habitat

The objective is to minimize the impact of new development on wildlife habitat

2.   Development shall be designed so as to:

            b)  Maintain wildlife corridors and linkages within adjacent areas; and

            c)  Enhance wildlife habitat wherever possible


Section 2.9 – Forest Management

The objective is to maintain and enhance the forests and associated animal and plant habitats.

2.   Approval to cut is conditional upon:

b) Minimizing disruption of habitats for plants and animal species occurring in the area.

        c)  Retaining the diversity of tree species.

d)  Aiming over the long term to retain or enhance the quality, appearance and      productivity of the forest site.

5.   Any tree cutting program should include natural regeneration or rehabilitation through reforestation where necessary.

 The Conditions of the Development Permit include the following:

(Again, these are direct quotes from the ruling.)

1.  Non-fulfillment or breach of any one of the conditions shall render the Development Permit void.

5.  Development shall take place only in accordance with the site plan and development permit application submitted.

7.  No trees other than dead or diseased trees shall be cut or removed from the lot in the area of the development except those absolutely necessary for the construction of the new dwelling.

9.  …The applicants are advised that a Tree Protection Plan (TPP) prepared according to the City of Hamilton’s Tree Protection Guidelines and a Landscape Plan will be required for submission with the Site Plan Control application.  The TPP is to show how many trees will be preserved or removed for the development and the Landscape Plan will show the compensation trees to be planted on site.  Compensation is required on a 1:1 basis

Further notes stress that “the applicant’s swimming pool and/or deck be designed to prevent wildlife (mammals, amphibians, reptiles) from entering the pool.  The incorporation of appropriate wildlife fencing around the pool is supported by the City of Hamilton Environmentally Significant Areas Impact Evaluation Group (ESAIEG) and the Niagara Escarpment Commission.” 

Further, “the applicants are advised by ESAIEG of its recommendation and support for the removal of debris and garbage from the most easterly pond to facilitate its use by local wildlife… The Niagara Escarpment Commission recommends that site disturbance associated with any litter or garbage removal be minimal and any disturbance be rehabilitated immediately following the activity.”