This week, Woolwich Township’s approach to applications for aggregate extraction was vindicated, in a manner of speaking.

At an Ontario Municipal Board hearing on Monday, the township’s Official Plan Amendment 13 was approved.

Granted, that OPA has been revised from its original form, after negotiations with Capital Paving, Steed and Evans, Ontario Sand and Gravel Association, and Preston Sand and Gravel, but it still retains its original intent — to make it clear to gravel pit applicants what studies will be required, before an application can be considered.

It was a timely move for the township to develop OPA 13, when it realized that there were approximately four applications for either new gravel pits or gravel pit expansions within the confines of the township.

Now there are five applications, and if all are approved, the face of the township will be changed for a long time to come.

The policies outlined in OPA 13 emphasize the due diligence that the township is prepared to undertake. Water studies, environmental impact studies, and consideration of “social impacts” are just some of the items outlined in OPA 13.

By developing such a plan, the township has prepared itself well for the months to come, when it must consider the gravel pit applications before it — including the ones by Capital Paving and Hunder Developments, both of which have been opposed by local citizens’ groups.

The emphasis that township director of planning, Dan Kennaley, made at the OMB hearing is one of balance — balancing the competing interests and needs of the aggregate industry against the need to protect the environment and community.

By developing OPA 13, and ultimately getting it approved at the OMB, the township will be better equipped to find this balance.