Overview
The Municipality of Grey Highlands recognizes the importance of the Beaver Valley as one of Ontario’s iconic natural splendours, cut into the Niagara Escarpment. A productive agriculture area, transected by the Bruce Trail, the Beaver Valley features several natural landmarks including Old Baldy, Hoggs Falls, the Duncan Crevice Caves and Eugenia Falls, and is known for a myriad of outdoor pursuits including skiing, snowboarding, hiking and cycling.
With increased tourism activity to the area, especially over the past year, the Municipality has made a commitment to engage with stakeholders and community members to seek feedback and input for an overall Beaver Valley vision that will provide guiding principles for future undertakings in the area.
Carefully planned community development through public engagement will provide direct benefits to the entire Municipality and will be focused on respecting the importance of the area’s natural and cultural assets, and supporting enhanced quality of life, rural lifestyle, and meaningful and sustainable economic activity.
“Council has long recognized the importance of the Beaver Valley as an important feature of our community fabric. Recent pressures related to increased visitation to the area have highlighted the need to ensure future activities respect the Valley’s ecological integrity and support the needs of the community for generations,” said Grey Highlands Mayor, Paul McQueen.
As identified in Grey Highlands’ 2019-2023 Strategic Plan, the Municipality values its shared responsibility to leave a legacy of a clean and nourishing natural environment while respecting the community’s heritage.
| Recap of Beaver Valley Visioning Sessions (April 28, 2021) |
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The Municipality hosted six community engagement sessions to seek input on an overall Beaver Valley corridor vision. Facilitated by The Planning Partnership on behalf of the Municipality, over 450 registered attendees shared their thoughts and feedback on the 40-kilometre corridor in Grey Highlands that extends from Hoggs Falls in the south to north of Epping. Please click here to view the presentation delivered by The Planning Partnership. Session 1 - 10:00 am Session 2 - 1:00 pm
Session 3 - 4:00 pm
Session 4 - 7:00 pm |
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Recap of Beaver Valley Visioning Sessions (May 5, 2021) |
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The Municipality hosted six community engagement sessions to seek input on an overall Beaver Valley corridor vision. Facilitated by The Planning Partnership on behalf of the Municipality, over 450 registered attendees shared their thoughts and feedback on the 40-kilometre corridor in Grey Highlands that extends from Hoggs Falls in the south to north of Epping. Please click here to view the presentation delivered by The Planning Partnership.
Session 6 - 4:00 pm |
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Beaver Valley Visioning Final Report |
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On April 7, 2021, Council approved the appointment of The Planning Partnership to undertake a Beaver Valley Corridor Visioning exercise (Resolution # 2021-239) to solicit public feedback on a community vision for the Beaver Valley Corridor, a 40 km stretch in Grey Highlands, that extends from Hogg's Falls in the south to north of Epping.
Between mid-April and July 16, 2021, The Planning Partnership undertook a variety of initiatives to solicit public feedback, including a preliminary survey, six two-hour online workshops, a post-workshop survey, as well as encouraging comments from the public to be sent directly to the Municipality via the Economic and Community Development department.
The final report includes a proposed vision statement that encompasses the feedback and themes that came out of the visioning process: "The Beaver Valley Corridor, a significant ecological system in the heart of Grey Highlands, will be a model of best practices in sustainable, ecological and environmental pursuits in support of the long-term social, cultural and economic vitality of the community for generations."
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Frequently Asked Questions |
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1. How can I continue to share my thoughts and ideas for the Beaver Valley? 2. Will there be a discussion on Talisman? 3. What happened with the results of the previous task force’s work on Talisman? 4. How are we involving indigenous communities/nations in consultation on Beaver Valley? The initial engagement invitation was shared broadly. All those interested were encouraged to participate. 5. What are Council’s thoughts on Talisman? 6. What happened with the motion brought forward by the Protecting Talisman Lands Association to halt the sale of the Talisman lands? On March 14, 2022 a Superior Court of Justice in Owen Sound ruled in favour of Grey Highlands and dismissed a motion brought forward by the Protecting Talisman Lands Association to halt the sale of the municipally owned Talisman lands. Key highlights from the ruling include that the Municipality has the right to sell the lands; the Municipality followed proper due diligence under the Municipal Act; and there will be many layers of oversight through the planning process to ensure the public’s interest will be met in how the lands are used by the new owners. 7. What happened with the Talisman sale to Westway Capital? On February 2, 2022 Council passed a by-law finalizing the Agreement of Purchase and Sale to for the Municipal lands described as 150 Talisman Mountain Drive. At the May 17 Council meeting, Council agreed to a motion to advance the dates of the closing for the Municipal properties known as 150 Talisman Mountain Road - Upper and Lower to no earlier than May 25, 2022. 8. What are Council’s thoughts on the Beaver Valley? 9. What’s the timing on the Beaver Valley Corridor Visioning? 10. What is the outcome/product of the Beaver Valley Corridor Visioning? 11. What are the future opportunities for engagement? 12. Has consideration been given to identifying alternate truck routes to avoid travelling through villages? 13. Of the 11,200 hectares in the Valley, how much is privately owned? There are approximately 3,330 hectares of land in public ownership in the Beaver Valley Corridor, leaving just over 7,800 hectares in private ownership. The yellow highlighted areas (below) provide a rough mapping of publicly owned lands.
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