South Bruce Peninsula has lost its appeal regarding the destruction of Piping Plover habitat in Sauble Beach.
It means the municipality will have to pay two $50,000 fines.
The town was charged by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) with destroying Piping Plover habitat by doing beach maintenance in 2017.
At the time Mayor Janice Jackson believed the verdict “didn’t fully reflect the evidence at trial,” and they decided to appeal the decision.
Justice J. A. Morneau handed down the decision on the appeal on Monday (MAR 8), dismissing both.
John Strachan of Friends of Sauble Beach, which was against doing maintenance around the piping plover nesting area says the result is going to cost everyone in the municipality.
He says it’s disturbing that every taxpayer in South Bruce Peninsula is going to be affected, stating taxes are high enough as it is.
Strachan says he believes the mayor has good intentions but in this case her “science” wasn’t right.
Now after the fines, and thousands of dollars in lawyer fees and court costs,
Strachan says he’s pretty disturbed that the mayor spent all that money in a losing cause.
A statement from the Town following the decision is below.
The Town received the Court’s decision and we are closely reviewing it. We are pleased that the Court recognized the Town’s duty to maintain the beach and the health and safety issues we must address on an ongoing basis. We are also pleased that the Court rejected the Justice of the Peace’s finding that the entire beach is plover habitat and gave important clarification that the heavily recreated south end of the beach is not plover habitat. The Court also gave important guidance that areas overgrown with willows, which has been a continuing challenge, are also not plover habitat.
These are very important clarifications that finally deliver much needed guidance.
There are aspects of the decision which we will review more closely. These include the Justice of the Peace’s suggestion that regular human human activity on the beach damages plover habitat.
While we are disappointed that the convictions were not overturned, the Court’s clarification of the extent of Plover habitat is very helpful.
Council will review the entire decision next week and thereafter make a decision regarding next steps.