June 9, 2006
Media Release

ESCARPMENT WATCHDOG GROUP CELEBRATES ADDITIONS TO THE NIAGARA ESCARPMENT PLAN

Bob Curry, from the Hamilton Naturalists' Club, to speak.

The public is invited to a free meeting -- the annual general meeting of the Coalition on the Niagara Escarpment (CONE) -- on Sunday, June 11, 2006, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington. This location was chosen to celebrate the addition of the "Escarpment Link" lands in Hamilton and Burlington to the Niagara Escarpment Plan.

We are pleased to have as special guest speaker Bob Curry, a Hamilton birder and senior author of Birds of Hamilton and Surrounding Areas, to be released in September 2006. Curry is a member of the Hamilton Naturalists' Club (HNC), a CONE member group. The book documents the 380 some species accounts of birds seen within the Hamilton Study Area (a 40.2-kilometre radius circle centred on Dundurn Castle, Hamilton), from prehistoric records to the present day - describing and documenting the astounding variety of bird-related projects the HNC and its members have undertaken over the years.

Light refreshments will follow Mr. Curry's talk, after which will be the business portion of the annual meeting.

The Escarpment Link refers to several parcels of land in Hamilton and Burlington that in 1990 all political parties in the legislature agreed should be moved from the Parkway Belt West Plan to the Niagara Escarpment Plan. This transfer had been held up due to 15 years of legal wrangling with developers. However, the transfer was finally made complete with the passing of the Greenbelt Act, which received Royal Assent on February 24, 2005. A hearing before the Environmental Review Tribunal on the matter concluded only recently.

The Coalition on the Niagara Escarpment (CONE) was founded in 1978 and now represents 22 member organizations interested in protection of the Niagara Escarpment. CONE has worked consistently for the protection of the Escarpment and its many values to Ontario society through public education, advocacy, and monitoring of development along the Escarpment.