Steinbach city council will object to a proposal by the RM of Hanover to amend its Development Plan and Zoning Bylaw. Hanover wants to re-designate a quarter-section of land along Mckenzie Avenue, just west of Homestead Crescent, and change it from agricultural use to rural residential use.

Councillor Susan Penner says this is inappropriate for a number of reasons, one being that the province wants urban development done from urban centres outward, not in a piecemeal way.

"This is similar to what we dealt with a couple of weeks ago with La Broquerie, where development in the rural areas is leapfrogging, instead of developing from urban centres out. It also doesn't go with what provincial land use policies are, in terms of eventually connecting to city services."

Penner explains that if the city's boundaries are one day expanded further west, it would be very difficult to provide city water and sewer services to those areas after the fact.

Councillor Damian Penner agrees.

"We cannot be having five-acre lots right on the edges of the city. You simply cannot service those with sewer and water at an affordable rate. It costs extreme amounts of money for every foot of these services. But when people do become citizens of the city, when the land gets annexed, they expect these services. So we need to be able to protect that for our future citizens."

Councillor Susan Penner also wonders why Hanover did not follow a procedure it agreed to with Steinbach to have prior consultations on such matters before proceeding.

"It was part of the agreement when we went forward with annexation that if they would propose something like this, they would consult with us before trying to move ahead with it. So, I don't think this objection should be totally unexpected."

Steinbach will present its objection at a public hearing in Hanover next Wednesday.