The city is resuming work on the Hanlon Creek Business Park and opponents of the development are holding a series of protests this week, including one set for Wednesday afternoon on the Hanlon Expressway.

This week’s protest activities follow the occupation of a business park construction site in the summer that led to a project being delayed beyond this year, and a protest on Oct. 29 when the city held an official groundbreaking ceremony for the business park. The city has got approval from the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources for the servicing work under the expressway to be done by Xterra Construction.

The MNR has also given the nod to two additional construction projects at the business park site in 2010, the city says.

Construction in the northwestern part of the business park along Downey Road, which will begin in January, includes the extension of existing water and sanitary services, on-site grading and the expansion of the existing stormwater management pond. This work will cost about $2.5 million and will allow the city to market two serviced employment blocks in the business park, a city hall news release said.

The second project approved by the MNR for 2010 includes construction of a 300-metre section of road north of Laird Road and related site work to the blocks of land east of this road. These lands are owned by Belmont Equity Partners Inc., a partner of the city in the business park development.

The MNR has approved these projects to go ahead before salamander monitoring work begins on the business park site in March, as it’s considered unlikely Jefferson salamanders are in these areas, the release said.

These salamanders are protected under the provincial Endangered Species Act, and the city says it will work with the MNR to make sure all requirements of this act are met. If a Jefferson salamander is discovered during the construction period, the work will stop immediately until the MNR provides further direction, the release said.

Meanwhile, a news release Friday from the protesters said their “educational rally” from 2:30-4:30 p. m. Nov. 25 is at the intersection of Clair Road and the expressway, where construction starts this month on a $1.7-million project to service the business park. The rally will include handing out information flyers to drivers as they stop at the red light there.

The protesters are also targeting Xterra Construction, which has been awarded the contract for this underground project to connect the business park site with the city’s water, electrical and telecommunications infrastructure.

They were planning to deliver “letters of concern” today (Nov. 24) to the company’s Kitchener office and follow this up with a “non-confrontational rally” there around noon on Thursday.

On Friday at city hall from 12 noon to 1 p. m., the development’s opponents are planning a free lunch and musical event. It’s aimed at letting city hall officials know that “there are many people in this community who are concerned about this issue and its myriad connections to other issues, like protection of our drinking water and downstream communities, forest preservation, biodiversity, mismanagement of municipal finances, remediation of brownfields, colonialism and disproportionate impacts on Indigenous people, and more,” the release said.

The week will be capped off by a musical fundraiser at 9 p. m. Friday at the Guelph Googenheim, 29 Woolwich St., it said.

While the MNR gave the go-ahead for work in two areas of the planned 675-acre business park site, it didn’t approve work that the city wanted to do in two other areas until further monitoring is done for Jefferson salamanders.

The business park will attract knowledge-economy businesses in sectors such as food and agribusiness, environment and energy, advanced manufacturing, and information and communications technology, and will provide about 10,000 jobs, the city says.

“The Hanlon Creek Business Park will create good local jobs and strengthen our business tax base, and it includes extensive environmental protections, including the protection of the heritage maple grove, provincially significant wetlands and groundwater resources,” Mayor Karen Farbridge said in a release.

The $1.7-million cost of the servicing work under the Hanlon Expressway from Clair Road to Phelan Drive will be cost-shared between the city and the utilities, aided by about $621,000 in federal funding, the city says.

The cost of an interchange on the Hanlon Expressway, which is needed for industrial growth in the area, is estimated at $20 million, the report says. This cost is to be shared by the province and the city.