Natural Heritage System (In Progress)

As the first amendment planned for the Northumberland Next Official Plan update, Northumberland County developed a Natural Heritage System Plan to manage community growth in a way that preserves and enhances our natural environment for future generations.

The NHS report was originally finalized based on multiple rounds of public consultations that took place between 2018-2020, and was endorsed by County Council in July 2020. However, the Province of Ontario announced a new ‘Provincial Planning Statement, 2024’ in October 2024, which requires us to update our Natural Heritage System to reflect changes to land use planning legislation.

What is a Natural Heritage System?

The Natural Heritage System includes areas such as wetlands, woodlands and watercourses that have been identified as significant natural features that we must protect and enhance.

The Natural Heritage System Plan will result in updates to the Northumberland County Official Plan policies, including:

  • Establishing a new Natural Heritage Area designation that will apply to properties with natural heritage features
  • Identification of natural heritage features and areas, as well as supporting features and areas that would be subject to development prohibitions and/or restrictions
  • Introduction of new policies affecting development and site alteration in and adjacent to the Natural Heritage System
  • Updates to the requirements for environmental studies

Public consultation process

In November 2018, Northumberland County conducted the first round of public consultation sessions to gather input on natural features to be included in Northumberland County's Natural Heritage System Plan. This input was used to develop three Natural Heritage System options, which were presented to the public for feedback during our second round of public consultation sessions in November and December 2019. In response to feedback received during these public consultation sessions, the County developed an online interactive map to demonstrate how each of the three options for a Natural Heritage System would be implemented in our community. Public feedback was gathered on the proposed mapping until February 21, 2020. This feedback was incorporated into final recommendations, presented to County Council for adoption.

County Council adopted the Natural Heritage System amendment on July 22, 2020. However, in October 2014, the new ‘Provincial Planning Statement, 2024’ came into effect, requiring updates to the amendment to align with new direction from the Province for land use planning.

Current stage

Recent changes to Provincial planning direction have prompted the need to update our Natural Heritage System amendment. These updates include:

  • Removal of the Growth Plan: The Province has repealed the Greater Golden Horseshoe "GGH" Growth Plan, which was originally incorporated into our NHS. Updates will need to be made to the amendment to remove the repealed designations and policies.
  • Redesignation of areas while maintaining total spatial area: Some areas that were originally incorporated as ‘GGH Growth Plan Areas’ in the NHS will need to be re-designated; however, these areas are proposed to remain part of the Northumberland NHS. Our proposed updates recommend the spatial area remains the same as originally adopted by County Council in 2021.
  • Changes to land use requirements in redesignated areas: Changes to area designations may affect requirements related to the location where development and site alteration can be permitted in these areas, and under what conditions. For example, a development that was previously prohibited in significant woodlands may now be considered, if it demonstrates no negative impact to the woodlot.

The proposed changes were presented and discussed at a public meeting on December 4th. Community members were invited to review the documents outlining the proposed changes, attend the meeting to share their feedback, or submit feedback and questions by email.

After reviewing the feedback received during these consultations, the project team has prepared final recommendations for the Natural Heritage System amendment. These recommendations will be presented to the Economic Development, Tourism and Land Use Planning Committee for consideration on Wednesday, January 8th, at 1 p.m..

A summary of the final recommendations is now available in the Committee meeting agenda and in the 'Documents' tab on the Northumberland Next project page.

Join In the conversation

Project timelines

Completed

November 2018 - first round of public consultations

  • Northumberland County Headquarters, Cobourg - November 26, 2018
  • Cramahe Township Municipal Office, Colborne - November 28, 2018
  • Clock Tower Cultural Centre, Campbellford - November 29, 2018

November/December 2019 - second round of public consultations

  • Cramahe Township Municipal Office, Colborne - November 21, 2019
  • Northumberland County Headquarters, Cobourg - December 2, 2019
  • Clock Tower Cultural Centre, Campbellford - December 3, 2019

January/February 2020

  • Interactive map and online form for gathering public input

July 2020

  • Completed final report

Spring/Summer 2020

  • Present the preferred Natural Heritage System option to Northumberland County Council on July 22, 2020

March 2021

  • Initiate update and arrange for a public meeting to incorporate the preferred Natural Heritage System mapping and policies into the County Official Plan update

December 2021

  • County Council adopted the Natural Heritage System amendment and the amendment was sent to the Province for approval

October 2024

December 2024

  • Update the Natural Heritage System mapping and policies to align with ‘Provincial Planning Statement, 2024’.
  • Present proposed updates to the Economic Development, Tourism, & Land Use Planning Committee and collect feedback from the community.

Next steps

January 2025

  • Present the updated amendment for Council adoption.
  • Send the final amendment to the Province for consideration.

News updates

2024

2021

2020

2019

2018

Supporting documents

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