Anyone who had been planning to attend public meetings regarding proposed changes near the Brantford Municipal Airport will need to adjust their calendars. In a news release on Wednesday, the City of Brantford and the County of Brant announced the previously scheduled sessions were being moved. The original dates were July 27 and July 29. Now, the City of Brantford’s statutory meeting will take place at 6 p.m. on August 10 at Brantford City Hall on Dalhousie Street The County of Brant’s meeting will be at 6 p.m. on August 12 at County of Brant Council Chambers on Broadway Street in Paris. In a joint statement, the municipalities said they changes were being made to give residents and landowners more time to review the updated airport boundary adjustment map. Last week, a revised proposal was released, removing 469 acres of land from the plan. The total amount of land that would be transferred from the county to the city would be 848 acres. City and county staff are also working on the final details of the draft restructuring agreement. That document will be publicly released before the meetings. Residents can also continue submitting their feedback through the LetsTalkBrantford.ca/Airport website. Why are lands being transferred to the city? Although the airport is called “The Brantford Municipal Airport,” it technically sits on county-owned land. The two municipalities have been locked into a lengthy debate over extending the city’s boundaries to include the plot of land the airport sits on. Late last year, the city asked the province for help. In March, a provincial facilitator was appointed to guide discussions between the city and the county. They were given a deadline of June 30 to come to terms. In May, a tentative deal was reached. It outlined proposed terms for a municipal boundary adjustment that would include the airport and surrounding lands. Approximately 1,317 acres of land were covered by that agreement, which was later revised to include 848 acres. Anyone living within that proposed boundary adjustment would become a City of Brantford resident if the agreement goes forward. Some Brant County residents have expressed concerns about what it would mean if they were absorbed into the city. Residents have raised worries about how quickly a deal was reached and questioned why the decision couldn’t wait until after the upcoming municipal elections, given that both the current mayor of Brantford and the current mayor of Brant County have announced they do not intend to run for office. A rally was held outside Brantford-Brant MPP Will Bouma’s constituency office on May 30. Some of the participants raised concerns about potential environmental impacts, the loss of agricultural land and limited public consultation opportunities.
