Unofficial ‘gravel capital’ of Ontario, defers decision on granting new pit plans

Aggregate extraction in Ontario from June 2025. (Source: Ontario Sand, Stone, and Gravel Association)

There are literally tonnes of gravel in West Grey, but Judi Smelko and the Saugeen Preservation Society want that aggregate to stay put. At least for the time being.

“There are three active new aggregate license applications in West Grey, and if things are left as they are, the decisions that West Grey makes on those applications are going to be based on policies that were formed from a 20-year-old study. They’re out of date,” said Smelko, who lives close to all three of the new gravel pit applications northwest of Durham.

Smelko was hoping West Grey council would implement an “interim control bylaw” to essentially pause all new gravel pit applications until they could update their aggregate policies. But council didn’t do that, instead deferring a decision until their November council meeting.

“Any applications that are already in the hopper, per se, will not be affected by an interim control bylaw. From what we understand, you know, those ones need to be addressed going forward on the policies that are already in place,” said Municipality of West Grey Mayor Kevin Eccles.

What West Grey does, in terms of gravel, is being watched by other municipalities, citizens’ groups, and the gravel industry, because they are the unofficial gravel capital of the province.

“When you’re identified to have 60 per cent of the gravel resources in Grey County and Grey County has 60 per cent of southwestern Ontario’s deposits of quality aggregate, yeah, you come underneath that influence pretty quickly,” said Eccles.

The gravel industry said Ontario needs four billion tonnes of aggregate over the next 20 years to meet Ontario’s infrastructure needs. But opponents say there’s hundreds of underutilized gravel pits in Ontario, so new pits, especially those near sensitive wetlands, and near rivers aren’t necessary.

“We would have preferred a ‘yes’ in the moment. But at the same time, you know, we gathered more support and now we have an opportunity to move forward with this still, with council and work with them, and try to balance against the industry,” said Smelko.

Eccles said they’re working with provincial ministries to see what they’re going to do about new gravel pits as they try and decide whether to put up the green light or stop sign on new gravel extraction in their region.