Sample Seeking Leave to Appeal a Ministry Decision
In February 1999, the Soyers Lake Ratepayers Association (SLRA) applied to the Environmental Appeal Board for leave to appeal a decision by the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) to permit a local golf course in Haliburton to take water for irrigation from Little Soyers Lake, which is the principal source of water for Soyers Lake. The ministry’s decision would have allowed the golf course to take up to 4,450 litres of water from the lake per minute during the summer months — 2,724,000 litres per day — for 25 years. In their application seeking leave to appeal MOE’s decision, the SLRA pointed out that its members lived on Soyers Lake and thus had an “interest” in the decision. The SLRA listed a number of reasons why no “reasonable” person would have made the decision to allow the golf course to take up so much water from Little Soyers Lake:
- Since there had been almost no rainfall in summer 1998, the permit would lower the level of Little Soyers Lake by more than 50 cm, eliminating the outflow from Little Soyers Lake and thus virtually extinguishing the flow of water into Soyers Lake.
- Because of the run off from the golf course, the reduced water levels would increase the concentration of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides in the lakes and related wetlands.
SLRA recommended that the rate of water taking be reduced under dry conditions, that the amounts withdrawn be validated by an independent third party, and that annual reports be submitted to nearby municipalities and to the SLRA. They also recommended that the permit to take water be issued for five years only.
In its own submission to the Board, MOE decided to support some of the SLRA’s suggestions, and in March 1999, the Environmental Appeal Board granted the ratepayers association leave to appeal. After negotiations, the SLRA withdrew its appeal, since most of its concerns had been addressed by the golf course and by MOE, and new conditions were included in the permit to take water.
