Ontario couple says decades-old riding business crushed after water from new development dumped near property

It's a 40-hectare farm that's been in Penny Beer's family for generations, and the place where she and her husband hoped to continue their riding business into retirement to support their income.

But those hopes, they say, were dashed when water started being dumped into the ravine adjacent to their Midhurst, Ont., property.

Beer says it got so bad, the trails she used to train horses – some of which have competed at an Olympic level – became washed out, and in at least once instance, a horse sank right to its knees. She says she's been forced to shutter the majority of the business for the safety of her clients and the horses, and for liability reasons.

"I have people that would come in and train and it's affected the training," Beer told CBC Toronto.

"We felt like it wasn't safe for them to be using those trails."

The apparent source of the water: runoff from a subdivision project under construction just down the street. The Beers claim that since work began three years ago on Rose Corporation's Midhurst Heights project, they've been experiencing issues with water runoff. 

The situation became critical in April when, according to her husband, Glenn Beer, the developer discharged large amounts of water, built up from a weather event, from its on-site stormwater management pond.

"They pumped with two pumps for 10 days, 24 hours a day across the road, with hoses [going] down the trail and into our property," Glenn told CBC Toronto. 

He says he's not just concerned about the volume of water, but its quality too.

"That's dirty water in my opinion," Glenn said. "It's off the bottom of cars and whatever everybody washes to the curb. I don't want this water brought into our property."

A storm outfall plan apparently approved in December 2023 by the local municipality allows future runoff from the development to be pumped in the land adjacent to the Beer's property. But the Beers say they received no notice from the Springwater Township that such a plan was even being considered — let alone put in place.

At a May 21, 2025 council meeting reviewed by CBC Toronto, the municipality's director of public works, Trevor Harvey, told council that it had approved modified plans from the developer that included using the land next to the Beers. 

"That's my understanding," Harvey said.

Over the span of a week, requests to interview Harvey and the township's mayor Jennifer Coughlin were declined, as a spokesperson said no one was available due to "scheduling and current priorities."