Article content
A massive development that would add more than 1,000 homes, a school and two commercial blocks in a rural community northeast of London has been pushed ahead by local politicians.
Zorra Township council, a tiny municipality in Oxford County, voted unanimously at a recent meeting to green-light an application by Mississauga-based developer Kingwood Riverside Developments Ltd. to develop 45 hectares (112 acres) of land in Thamesford – a community of about 2,600 in the municipality.
Article content
“This will be a radical change for Thamesford, it’ll be a radical change for Zorra (and) it’ll be a radical change for Oxford County,” Zorra Mayor Marcus Ryan said in a Monday interview. “The intention here is to really be transformative in a positive, constructive way for the community.”
The area eyed for development is part of the lands of Thamesford’s former Maple Leaf Foods plant, which employed 400 people at the time it closed in 2018. Zorra Township subsequently bought the property, selling nearly all of it to Kingwood.
The draft plan of the new subdivision includes 18 blocks for single-detached homes, 11 blocks for townhouses for about 640 units, two blocks for apartment buildings containing about 370 units, two commercial blocks and a block set aside for a new elementary school.
There are also plans for open space and a trail.
Ryan noted the massive development will take “decades” before it’s complete, and there are still further approvals needed to push the project ahead, such as a nod from Oxford County politicians because Zorra is part of a two-tier municipal government system.
Article content
Zorra Coun. Kevin Stewart said the proposed development doesn’t “fit the typical mold” of a subdivision in a small community, but said the larger urban centres in the largely rural county are likely to expand, too.
“I think there’s going to be a lot more growth in the major villages or centres in Oxford,” Stewart said.
An October report from Ontario’s Ministry of Finance estimates Oxford County is the second-fastest growing area in Southwestern Ontario behind London and Middlesex County, with its population expected to spike by 52 per cent in the next 25 years.
Ryan said he expects Oxford County politicians to review the plan next month, when he expects it will be “not only approved but enthusiastically approved.”
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada
Recommended from Editorial
Share this article in your social network
