HALDIMAND—County staff will bring forward a report on the feasibility of reviewing and amending Haldimand’s urban composting regulations and bylaw controls.
Ward 3 Councillor Dan Lawrence brought the motion forward for discussion at a Council meeting on Tuesday, October 7, 2025.
Lawrence’s motion described the increase of denser urban environments with less space between homes.
While Haldimand encourages the use of backyard composters as a “simple way to reduce the amount of waste that is placed at the curb each week,” the motion notes a “lack of education for some homeowners on how to properly maintain and operate their composters” has led to increased complaints from residents for issues like odour emissions and the attraction of rodents.
Lawrence asked staff to report back on municipal best practices and recommend any needed amendments to the County’s property standards bylaw.
Councillor Rob Shirton supported the motion, asking Manager of Community and Development Services Mike Evers for a timeline on the report.
“This will fall to our bylaw municipal enforcement area,” said Evers. “We’d be looking at the first quarter of the new year as our target.”
The first step will be a review of best practices among municipalities “to get a handle on how this type of issue … is dealt with,” he said.
That review process will include input from Haldimand’s waste management and public works departments.
“We want a balance here,” said Evers. “We want to recognize the concerns that have been raised and make sure that what’s happening on a property is done in a proper fashion … but we also want to make sure we don’t make it so onerous that people are going to walk away from backyard composting.”
Lawrence agreed, stating, “We want people to continue to compost. It’s great for the environment, it’s a great way to get rid of and use other waste.… We don’t want to make it so cumbersome it deters people from it.”
Lawrence said that people are generally happy with composting, but complaints have included issues like neighbours not using lids: “A simple lid would cover the whole problem, literally, in those areas.”
Councillor Debera McKeen suggested that the issue could be controlled better by increasing lot sizes when planning new developments.
McKeen also asked, “If we’re going to demand that they do this or demand that they do that, have we considered having some type of green bin collection? And does the taxpayer know that if we do something like that, it’s going to be a large increase in their taxes?”
Lawerence said he had staff investigate the possibility of green bins in his first term, “and the green bin was not feasible. You make a good point that we could get moved in that direction, which would have a significant impact on your taxes.”
Manager of Public Works Dan McKinnon weighed in on the prospects of Haldimand adopting a green bin program.
“The conversation about green bin as a program is probably one that Council is going to have to have in a few years,” he said. “I can see the province is heading in that direction with regulation. I would say in the short term, financially it would be a real burden for the municipality.”
McKinnon estimated Norfolk’s green bin program to cost between $3-4 million annually as an example.
He said he doesn’t believe such a program makes sense for Haldimand from a financial perspective currently, “but certainly our understanding of where the regulation is going over the next 5-10 years, in 10 years you’re likely going to have a green bin program. You may not have an option.”
Council voted unanimously for staff to report back on potential updated regulations and bylaw controls. The Press will provide further details as they become available.
