Potential land severance in Hespeler could interfere with future Go Train expansion

CN Railway is asking the City of Cambridge for approval to sell a portion of its land in Hespeler, but city staff are pushing back.

The proposal was brought to a Committee of Adjustment meeting on Wednesday night.

A representative for CN spoke at the meeting, saying the 0.69 hectares located on the southeast side of Sheffield Street between Clemens Avenue and Guelph Avenue would be split and sold to a neighbouring property owner. It’s a piece of land that CN has no use for. No development is proposed on the piece of land.  

In a report, city staff recommended a rejection of the proposal. The primary reason is that the land in question has been identified as a prime spot for an eventual Go Train expansion.

“The City, as well as the Region, we’ve identified this as a perfect corridor to provide Go Train service from Cambridge to Toronto along this corridor. I think by severing the land there, that certainly has a negative impact on the ability to do that in the future,” said Hardy Bromberg, the deputy city manager with the City of Cambridge.

The Committee of Adjustment ultimately voted to defer a decision on the topic, allowing CN Rail to have some time to review the city’s comments and prepare a response for a future meeting.

The proposal was deferred for 60 days.