Student programs will expand
on Britannia Farm thanks to
new development plan

Peel - An office development on a small portion of the Britannia Farm land will provide the Peel District School Board with the funding to expand student programs on the farm and the board's two field centres.

"The Peel board has made the decision to lease 31 acres--about 15 per cent of the 200-acre Britannia Farm site-- to a developer. We are now in negotiations with a developer, Osmington Inc., which will provide the developer with a 99-year lease for the south east corner of the farm. The remaining 85% of the farm will be protected as green space," Janet McDougald, chair of the Peel board and chair of the Britannia Farm Task Force, announced at a public meeting on April 10.

"The proceeds from the lease, which will be payable at the time the board signs the lease, will provide stable, sustainable, long-term funding for educational programming on the farm and field centres. Because we are still in negotiations, we are not able to tell you the value of the lease, but we're committed to making that information public as soon as the lease is final, probably in early June 2008," McDougald said. "It's essential to note that the board retains ownership of the farm. The heritage buildings and natural features of the farm will be preserved."

Osmington is a Canadian company managing assets worth over $2.75 billion in office, retail, industrial and multi-residential areas. As a measure of their approach to building development, construction and management, Osmington recently received three Certificate of Excellence Awards from the Building Owners and Managers Association of Canada.

The Peel board serves more than 150,000 students in kindergarten to grade 12. Operating 232 schools in the municipalities of Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga, the Peel board is the largest employer in Peel. The Britannia Farm was donated in 1833 by King William IV and operated as a working farm until 1990. It features four heritage buildings—Britannia Schoolhouse, Britannia House, Dunton House and Conover Barn. Natural features of the land include a maple sugar bush and a wide variety of hardwoods. For more information, visit the board's website at www.peelschools.org.