Community Liaison Committee Learns of Future Housing Needs and Project Demands

For Immediate Release
June 3, 2022

SOUTH BRUCE, ON – Last night’s Community Liaison Committee (CLC) Meeting focused on the community’s future housing needs, with and without the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) Project. Other potential land use and zoning impacts of the deep geological repository and surface facilities were also presented

Dave Rushton, Project Manager for the South Bruce Nuclear Exploration Team at the Municipality of South Bruce, and Allan Webster, Director of Regulatory Affairs and Environmental Assessment at the NWMO, each presented as study managers for their respective organizations. The presentation summarized the findings of the Housing Needs and Demand Analysis Study and the Land Use Study.

The studies show that natural population growth will increase the demand for housing even without the Project. Additional demand from the Project is projected to be relatively modest. For example, the settlement boundary in South Bruce may need to be expanded about five years sooner if the Project were to be built. That would move the timeline forward to 2041 instead of 2046.

The Land Use Study showed that there is sufficient space for the Project’s above ground facilities. Amendments to the County Official Plan and South Bruce’s Zoning by-law will likely be needed to permit it as a land use. No changes to land use would be required for an Emergency Planning Zone, which would be established to guide emergency response planning.

The consultants stressed that planning is critical in the coming years to ensure that municipal infrastructure can support the housing supply and demand. A more detailed housing plan was recommended to consider affordable, accessible, and temporary housing.

The entire presentation is available in the CLC Agenda package, and copies of the studies and peer reviews can be found at www.southbruce.ca/Studies. A summary document has been mailed to community members, which will be the practice following each of the upcoming meetings to help inform the public about the studies.

The CLC’s next meeting will be held on Thursday, June 16.The presentation will discuss the Aggregate Resources Study, as well as the deep geological repository conceptual design, and an introduction to the NWMO’s Confidence in Safety Report.

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