What You’re Not Being Told:

While the Haliburton Highlands Land Trust (HHLT) claims that private property will not be affected by the proposed Conservation Reserve designation, this paints an incomplete picture.

In reality, landowners adjacent to Conservation Reserves often face increased restrictions due to the protected status of neighbouring Crown land. This proximity can have serious and lasting implications for both property owners and municipalities:

🔹 Environmental assessments and delays in municipal approvals become more likely.
🔹 Downzoning pressures or policy shifts may appear in Official Plans to align with new conservation boundaries.
🔹 Constraints on severances, driveway access, or infrastructure expansion can emerge due to nearby species-at-risk habitat or watercourse protections.
🔹 New conditions may be imposed on development proposals to comply with evolving environmental priorities.
🔹 Municipal planning authority may be weakened as provincial policies and unelected environmental managers influence local land use decisions.

For landowners, this can reduce property values, delay projects, and create uncertainty about future land use rights. And for municipalities, it often means ceding control over planning and development to Queen’s Park.

In short: What happens on Crown land doesn’t always stay on Crown land.