On Aug. 20, 2024 Conestoga Meats submitted an expansion application to the Region of Waterloo Licensing and Hearing Committee. The company stated it is nearing its end and is planning for the next 50 years of operation through the expansion. The proposed pork facility aims to be an economic driver for the Breslau area.
The application planned to clear more than 14 hectares of woodland for the expansion in Breslau. The Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) suggests that urban areas of a similar size to Breslau should have at least a 30 per cent canopy cover. Elmira currently only has a 16 per cent canopy cover. As of Sept. 20, the application was withdrawn due to significant pushback from the public.
Trees for Woolwich, a community collective trying to create a green legacy for Woolwich, strongly opposed the clear-cutting of the woodland. The collective has planted 75,000 trees since 2011. Their main project is planting trees along roadsides.
“ This is a high-quality, functioning hardwood bush which the company would have seen when they were doing their due diligence,” Inga Rinne, the Chair of Trees for Woolwich said.
Rinne delegated to the Region of Waterloo’s Licensing and Hearings Committee on Sept. 4. The environmental planning staff could not support the approval of a woodland removal permit. The staff gave the committee two options: approving a removal permit with conditions or turning it down.
“Even if reforestation is successful, it will take 30 years. There is a high risk of failure for the reforestation. It is a 20-year at minimum commitment between preparing the land and monitoring the saplings,” Rinne said.
Conestoga Meats is a significant employer in the Waterloo Region. It has been a farmer owned business since the 1950s and more than 1,500 people today.
Greg Lynch, a representative of Conestoga Meats presented the woodlot application that detailed their plan to clear out a portion of the woodlot on the land surrounding the processing plant.
“You’d think, surely to goodness, that there has to be a better way to do this. That land will have tons of carbon that will be released when it is cut down,” Rinne said.
Tens of thousands of trees need to be planted to reach the green infrastructure canopy cover goal according to the Township of Woolwich roadside tree planting project. Rinne said if the woodlot were to be cleared it would release 400 tons of carbon and add around 1,400 tons of stored carbon dioxide for the entire lot.
Although the 14.4-hectare woodlot is already a part of the company’s property, environmental activists pointed out that its clearing would negatively impact the local environment. According to Trees for Woolwich, the woodlot is the very best the region has to offer because it is 35 acres (about half the area of a large shopping mall) of high-quality hardwood bush. The motion was removed from the Sept. 25 regional council meeting.
Conestoga Meats did not respond to requests for comment in time before the article was published.
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