'We're not going to relent': Hamilton public meeting over Greenbelt land development gets heated

Under a dusky sky, hundreds of Hamilton residents filed into a community centre, ready to weigh in on the Ford government’s contentious decision to remove land from Ontario’s Greenbelt. 

They filled the 470-seat auditorium Wednesday night, many carrying “Hands off the Greenbelt” signs and ready to voice their opposition. 

The city’s chief planner, Steve Robichaud, acknowledged from the stage how unpopular developing land on Book Road, White Church Road and Fifty Road is in Hamilton. A significant number of residents don’t want it, and neither does the mayor or council, or staff for that matter, he said. 

But, Robichaud said, the purpose of the meeting wasn’t