Citizens for an Accountable Mega-Hospital Planning Process say expert planner Jennifer Keesmaat will give expert evidence in their Windsor Mega-Hospital legal appeal.

The group says decisions by Windsor council to locate a proposed single-site acute care hospital on greenfield lands have been appealed to Ontario’s Local Planning Appeal Tribunal.

The future Regional Acute Care Hospital for Windsor-Essex would be located at County Road 42 and the 9th concession near the airport.

A statement from CAMPP says Keesmaat, who also ran for mayor of Toronto and was a planner there, will be giving evidence as an independent expert witness supporting their case.

In a news release, Keesmaat says that sprawling land use planning has implications and that directing growth to existing serviced areas prior to building new infrastructure is the foundation of the responsible use of land in the Provincial Policy Statement.

A case management conference is scheduled for March 20 in Windsor.

The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care says the new facility will serve more than 400,000 people in the region, providing advanced acute care services designed to meet the changing health care needs of local residents.

It will cost an estimated $2-billion.

Infrastructure Ontario has been appointed to lead the procurement process for construction of the new hospital. A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is scheduled to be issued in 2021, but that is subject to change.