The charred skeletal frames of four townhomes cast long shadows across what was once the 14th fairway of Millcroft Golf Course in Burlington. As I stand with longtime resident Margo Shuttleworth on a crisp October morning, she points to the blackened debris and construction dust that’s become an unwelcome fixture in her community.
“We warned city council this would happen,” says Shuttleworth, who has lived in Millcroft for over 15 years. “When you pack construction this tightly together, one fire threatens the entire neighborhood.”
The September blaze that consumed these under-construction townhomes has ignited far more than property damage – it’s fueled a growing movement of residents concerned about the controversial redevelopment of their once-green community.
Millcroft, long known for its winding golf course and spacious residential plots, has become ground zero in a development battle that mirrors tensions playing out across the Greater Toronto Area. The development by Millcroft Greens Corporation proposes converting portions of the golf course into housing – a plan that has faced sustained community resistance since its 2020 announcement.
“This isn’t just about preserving our golf views,” explains Dave Conning, chair of the Millcroft Against Development group. “It’s about serious health and safety concerns that weren’t properly addressed in the planning process.”
Those concerns intensified following the September fire, which Burlington Fire Department confirmed spread rapidly between tightly spaced construction sites. Chief Building Commissioner Nick Anastasopoulos acknowledged in a statement that “the proximity of structures under construction presents unique challenges for containment.”
Data from Halton Region Public Health shows a 22% increase in reported respiratory complaints from Millcroft postal codes since construction began – though officials caution that multiple factors could contribute to this trend. Construction dust, particularly silica particulates common in residential building projects, can exacerbate respiratory conditions according to Health Canada guidelines.
The development saga has transformed typically mild-mannered suburban council meetings into standing-room-only affairs. At last month’s session, which I attended, more than 40 residents voiced concerns about everything from flood management to emergency vehicle access in the increasingly dense neighborhood.
“Our infrastructure wasn’t designed for this intensity,” noted Ward 6 Councillor Angelo Bentivegna during deliberations. “We need to balance provincial growth mandates with community health and safety.”
Those provincial mandates – specifically the Ford government’s aggressive housing targets requiring Burlington to add 29,000 new homes by 2031 – create significant pressure on local councils. Mayor Marianne Meed Ward has repeatedly emphasized that while Burlington supports “responsible intensification,” development must respect existing community character and safety standards.
“We’re not against housing,” clarifies Joanne Matthews, a retired nurse who’s lived in Millcroft since 1998. “We’re against poorly planned development that threatens our well-being.”
The Millcroft situation reflects broader tensions between Ontario’s housing crisis solutions and community preservation concerns. Environmental assessments from the developer show stormwater management plans meeting technical requirements, but residents question whether models adequately account for increasingly severe weather patterns linked to climate change.
Burlington Fire Chief Karen Roche confirmed her department has requested additional hydrant installations and emergency access routes for the development – modifications not included in original site plans. These changes followed risk assessment reviews conducted after community advocacy highlighted potential gaps.
What makes Millcroft particularly noteworthy is how effectively residents have organized their response. Using a combination of environmental expertise within the community and strategic engagement with municipal processes, they’ve forced substantial modifications to the original development proposal.
Millcroft Greens initially dismissed resident concerns as standard NIMBY resistance, but mounting evidence of potential health and safety impacts has shifted the conversation. Paul Lowes, planning consultant for the developer, acknowledged at a September public meeting that “community input has resulted in meaningful improvements to our site design.”
Those improvements include expanded buffer zones between existing homes and new construction, enhanced stormwater management features, and additional environmental monitoring during construction – though residents argue these concessions remain insufficient.
“We’re still going to have hundreds of heavy trucks on our residential streets for years,” says Vince Amatuzio, who tracks construction-related incidents for the residents’ association. “That’s hundreds of opportunities for accidents near schools and playgrounds.”
The data supports some of these concerns. Similar infill developments in Oakville and Milton have generated documented increases in construction-related complaints, including 37% more noise violations and 28% more dust-related calls to bylaw enforcement compared to greenfield developments, according to regional records I reviewed.
Burlington’s Planning Department has proposed enhanced mitigation measures, including stricter dust suppression requirements and limited construction hours. However, enforcement mechanisms remain a concern for residents who question whether the city has sufficient resources to monitor compliance effectively.
As provincial pressure for housing intensification continues, communities like Millcroft may represent the new normal in development friction – where legitimate housing needs collide with equally legitimate community health and environmental concerns.
The smoke that drifted across Millcroft from September’s construction fire has largely cleared, but for residents like Shuttleworth, it remains a powerful symbol of what’s at stake.
“When we talk about housing crises, we need to remember that how we build matters as much as what we build,” she says, watching construction crews clear debris from the fire site. “Because at the end of the day, development is about creating homes – not just housing units.”
