Millcroft residents urge pressure on provincial candidates to preserve golf club

Millcroft residents say the potential re-development of the Millcroft Golf Club into new housing is a real election issue for many. 

Community organizers have taken it upon themselves to let representatives, candidates, and Conservative Leader Doug Ford know that they don’t want the golf club to go anywhere. 

“We’ve reached out to Doug Ford, and candidates Effie Triantafilopoulos and Natalie Pierre, basically just bringing this to their attention that for us this is an election issue,” Kirk Robinson, founding director of Millcroft Against Bad Development said. “We sent an email to around 15,000 people on our mailing list, and I heard there were nearly 500 emails were sent to Doug Ford’s office.”

Specifically, MAD is asking Ford to issue a Minister’s Zoning Order to stop the development of the proposed 98 single family homes and one six-storey apartment with 130 units. 

An MZO can even prevail over municipal zoning by-laws. They are a tool to override legal and policy protections for farmland and natural heritage features across Ontario. 

“We’ve been working on this for months,” Robinson said. “Doug is the one who called the election, and the constituents in Millcroft and the Halton area very much support saving green space. Nobody wants to see this golf course go.”

He continued that the golf course is essential for flood mitigation, and hardening the area, as Robinson put it, will lead to further problems. 

Robinson suggests that the proposed flood mitigation methods that would accompany the new development could only handle about 10 per cent of what the golf course can, specifically holes six and seven. 

He added green space in Burlington is limited, and the province should do what they can to preserve it. 

In June, the Ontario Land Tribunal approved the redevelopment of parts of the golf course. The city of Burlington released a statement shortly after suggesting that while Burlington is in need of housing, this project fails to meet key aspects of the city’s housing strategy. 

"We are deeply disappointed with the OLT’s decision to approve the Millcroft Greens development,” a joint statement from Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and Ward 6 councillor Angelo Bentivegna read. “The project is not needed to meet our housing targets, will not provide affordable housing, and develops essential greenspace. We need more parks and open space for our growing community, not less. This project does not align with our community's needs or our vision for sustainable growth.”

Robinson said last time he spoke with Ford – a few months ago – he was very supportive of what the organization was working on. 

He added a follow up conversation was scheduled with Ford, but it had to be put aside after the election was called.