Ontario farmer turned down C$16m for 164 acres; 29 acres protected for 999 years
An Ontario farmer rejected a C$16 million development offer to protect his land, placing a 999-year conservation easement on 29 acres of his fruit farm. This move aims to preserve fertile soil for future agricultural use rather than urban expansion.
Why it matters
The decision highlights the tension between urban development and the preservation of rare, fertile agricultural land in growing regions.
When a developer offered Charles Stevens C$16 million for Wilmot Orchards, the 164-acre fruit farm he helped build near Newcastle, Ontario, he had every reason to consider it. The property sits close to Highway 401 and Lake Ontario, in a rapidly growing part of the Greater Toronto Area where farmland is increasingly attractive for housing and other development. Instead, Stevens and his family chose a very different path. They worked with the Ontario Farmland Trust to place a conservation easement on 29 acres of the farm, legally restricting development for 999 years, and they plan to protect the remaining land in the years ahead. The story has been reported by CBC News, while the Ontario Farmland Trust describes Wilmot Orchards as the first farm in Durham Region protected through its farmland protection programme.The decision was not simply about refusing money.
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