The City is relying on aerial photos from the early 2000s as part of a 2024 “update” of the Airport Employment Growth District’s (AEGD) natural heritage system map.
Scroll down to tell the City that this is completely unacceptable
2009 map being used to inform 2024 AEGD Natural Heritage System update
Current map of the AEGD
Take a close look at the 2009 map of the AEGD Natural Heritage System at the top and compare it to the current Google Earth image above, and the wetland map below. You’ll notice a number of inconsistencies between 2009 and today. For instance, the Highway Six bypass is missing from the 2009 map, meaning the aerial image was taken sometime prior to 2004. Some subwatersheds are mislabelled and some are missing. There are wetlands (e.g., Garner Marsh), woodlots, linkages, creeks, streams and hedgerows all missing from the older map.
Now have a look at the 2024 proposed Natural Heritage Map (page 9 here) and you’ll see that it is a near copy of the 2009 map. Not only is much of the natural heritage missing from the updated version, but there are features proposed to be added to the new map which have not actually existed on the landscape since the early 2000s!
This 2009 map is part of a 2011 subwatershed study which forms the basis of the currently underway 2024 update of the AEGD Natural Heritage System!
Why is the City using a decades old map as the basis of an upgrade?
Once the updated AEGD Natural Heritage Map is complete, it will be added to the AEGD Secondary Plan to be approved by Council early in the new year. From then on this map will help inform (warehouse) development decisions in the AEGD for decades to come. Since this aerial photo may well be from the 1990s, it is far too old to be used in any updates.
Accurate and up to date mapping of the Natural Heritage System of the AEGD is crucial if the City is serious about it’s claim that this 2024 update of the AEGD Natural Heritage System map will “ensure the protection and enhancement of natural features within the Secondary Plan and accuracy of defined features.”
We are calling for a complete re-do of the AEGD Natural Heritage System Map using:
Four season fieldwork
Wetland mapping readily available from the three Conservation Authorities found within the AEGD - Hamilton CA, Grand River CA, Niagara Peninsula CA
The Natural Asset Valuation study carried out by NPCA which includes detailed Ecological Land Classification GIS mapping. (See page 52 at this link.)
Information from the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club Natural Areas Inventory
The great news is that much of this work has already been done by the NPCA! Almost all of the AEGD lies within the NPCA watershed, so extensive and recent (two year old) data that has been gathered for that Natural Asset Valuation study is available to be used by the City of Hamilton!
Please send your comments to the City Planners listed below and local Councillors Craig Cassar (Ward 12) and Mark Tadeson (Ward 11) asking for a comprehensive update to the AEGD Natural Heritage System mapping based on current fieldwork and mapping, not decades old, inaccurate maps.
Copy/paste this list straight into your ‘TO’ box:
Neil.Stoop@hamilton.ca
Dave.Heyworth@hamilton.ca
Craig.Cassar@hamilton.ca
Mark.Tadeson@hamilton.ca
You can learn more at Engage Hamilton at this link
