A new plan from the province may restrict residential growth in New Tecumseth.

Last November, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal released a growth plan for the golden horseshoe.

It's called Places to Grow, and restricts residential estate lots from being built in rural areas.

The plan is intended to prevent urban sprawl, and restricts growth to established areas, directing it away from agricultural regions.

Ward 5 (Tottenham) councillor Betty Aldridge was concerned that the provincial Liberals didn't understand rural municipalities. "It makes me nervous. The province is in tune with the upper-tier, not the lower tiers," said Aldridge.

"But we're the ones ultimately going to be affected by this."

Ward 2 (Green Briar/ Briar Hill) councillor Dennis Egan recently asked staff for the pros and cons of the initiative.

"The upside is we'll have multiple lot units and estates we don't have now, which would be beautiful for the municipality.

"What's the downside and how much would this affect the municipality?" asked Egan.

Eric Taylor, director of community and strategic planning, responded by saying the town couldn't develop agricultural land into subdivisions.

That could potentially limit the town's revenue, and slow the town's population growth. "Any new lots would have to be in existing settlement areas," added Taylor.

He reminded council that prime agricultural land, which hasn't been determined yet in the town's Official Plan, would still be off limits for development.

Determining which areas are prime agricultural land was postponed until this fall, said Taylor.

Egan then asked if proposals already in at the town's office would be exempt from the province's plan.

Taylor said the province has typically grandfathered in applications, but may not this time around.

The Places to Grow document is to control growth through to 2031, and includes Simcoe County, Barrie and Orillia in its plan. New Tecumseth council agreed to ask the province not to ban new multiple residential lots in rural areas.