Natural Heritage Inventory and Analysis – Lands North of Highway 5, Town of Oakville

Natural Heritage Inventory and Analysis – Lands North of Highway 5, Town of Oakville

The purpose of the study was to establish a defensible and implementable environmental protection framework that would form the basis for subsequent Secondary Plan and Subwatershed level studies, and that would ensure environmentally sustainable urban development for a 4000 ha study area located north of Dundas Street.  A comprehensive field inventory program, encompassing vegetation, forestry, wildlife and fisheries, determined the ecological attributes, functions and linkages within the study area and the larger regional landscape setting.  Based on the results of the surveys, the natural features were evaluated in the context of the Natural Heritage Section of the Provincial Policy Statement and were ranked in terms of their “significance” and priority for environmental protection.  Areas suitable for integration into the urban fabric as well as areas that did not pose a constraint to future development were also identified.  Environmental management recommendations and mitigation strategies were developed to ensure environmentally sustainable urban growth.  A key element of the project was to review and select appropriate planning mechanisms and strategies for implementing the Natural Heritage Framework.