Revegetation Plan
As a result of the permit process, the Games presented a required Revegetation Plan. This Plan, insufficient as it is, was only generated after complaints by local residents of the unauthorized racecourse work.
The planting and seeding noted in this Plan would be beneficial. However, they do not apply to new trails themselves, which are extensive areas of de-vegetation and soil disruption running through the entire ravine twice, with multiple add-on trails.
Key highlights from the conditions in the Permit regarding revegetation, are :
“All areas of disturbed soil shall be stabilized and re-vegetated with an appropriate ground cover immediately upon completion of work and restored to a pre-disturbed state or better. All re-vegetated areas shall be monitored on a regular basis (weekly) to ensure that vegetation has established successfully, and re-vegetating shall be conducted during the growing season as appropriate to ensure vegetative cover of disturbed areas.”
There is no discussion by NPCA of the further vegetation destruction and soil loss which will almost certainly be caused by racing events and inevitable rogue trails post-Games. Also, the ravine is noted for its variety of very large mature trees. If these are destroyed by trail construction and use, they are not replaceable.
Who is responsible for this re-vegetation once the Games are over? This Significant Woodland is in a greenbelt that provides urgently needed tree canopy for the City, and is already in need of efforts to foster regeneration, particularly given the loss of so many ash trees. This was not addressed.
If the racecourse is allowed to be used, the area needing revegetation will be a vastly changed and permanently altered ravine woodland that will have lost many of its most positive features for other users. To see an example of what happens to this ravine with mountain bike use, see the attached photo of an area at the beginning of the race course, with old trails: see photo
The ravine slopes should not be further developed or used for racing but fully returned to their natural state. There are no plans to do this and, in fact, the slopes are the area receiving most of the new trails.
NPCA believed that the racecourse was being built on existing trails, because that is what they were told by the racecourse vested interests. Much of the racecourse consists of new trails. Some time after the permit was issued, the Mayor of St. Catharines publicly confirmed that the racecourse was in fact created to be a new trail system.
The erosion issue in this ravine is an existing and well-known fact. It is not theoretical. Some homes here require retaining walls and further up Riverview Blvd. some have been demolished to prevent collapse into the ravine. The racecourse and racing events will accelerate erosion in this ravine, negatively impacting ecological function.
We believe that the NPCA conclusions on ecological impacts were premature, and not well founded. NPCA staff did not have sufficient information to make any conclusions at this point regarding ecological function.
This is our Summary of Issues Regarding the Issuing of a Permit by the NPCA. We believe that a permit should not have been approved for the reasons cited. In this section of our website we will offer more detailed specifics, some of which will be forthcoming.
We know that the permit was ultimately approved as a “passive recreational use”. We believe that is not supportable in view of the significant development that the racecourse construction requires, and the type of impacts that racing entails.
There is no discussion by NPCA of the further vegetation destruction and soil loss which will almost certainly be caused by racing events and inevitable rogue trails post-Games. Who is responsible for this re-vegetation once the Games are over?
Environmental Study – Plants and Wildlife NPCA did not do any environmental studies of the racecourse area. That should be stated upfront and made clear. Moreover, on September 10, 2021, Ontario Power Generation…