Industrial Park: A Secondary Use to an Ontario Hydro Transmission Corridor

Abstract

The joint-use program, initiated by Ontario Hydro in 1979 as a response to social and political pressures, resulted in multiple secondary uses of land under their transmission lines. In the early 1980’s, Ontario Hydro identified the need to establish new transmission systems between the Bruce Nuclear plant and London, and the Nanticoke Power plant to London. The existing corridor, established in the 1950’s, was inadequate for the new needs and hence a study team was formed with experts from a wide array of professions to assess the future use of the lands. The committee concluded that the best course of action would be to develop the land and allocate various restrictions/uses – the outside of the corridor which was considered as surplus with no restrictions would be used for buildings, areas closer to the lines could be used for parking/service corridors/ roads and storage areas, and finally, the areas directly under the lines will have tight restrictions and could be used for road crossings, parking, services and landscaping. The proposed use was innovative and was never tested or tried by Ontario Hydro. Albeit several concerns such as environmental impacts, zoning, etc., this was considered as a win-win for all parties since the proposed development could bolster social and economic growth of London and surrounding neighbourhoods and the investment from Ontario Hydro will assist in keeping the price of electricity competitive for the end-users. The innovative solution was a direct result of internal and external partners modifying their mindset and challenging their current practices on transmission corridors.