Confusing numbers about future development in Grey County's draft Growth Management Study have led county council to invite the consultants that prepared the report back to a meeting to answer some questions.

At Tuesday's regular meeting, county council narrowly voted to spend up to $10,000 to have consultants return to answer questions from lower tier planners about the numbers in the Growth Management Study.

The study is part of the county's five-year review of its Official Plan.

Since the draft plan was released, it has been a controversial document. The report projects population growth over the next five years in Grey County to be just 6,400. Some lower-tier municipalities forecast larger population growth in their own municipalities - let alone across the entire county.

The debate about the matter fractured along old time rural vs. urban lines typical of Grey County council's past history. Representatives from large urban municipalities like Owen Sound, Hanover, Meaford and The Blue Mountains led the movement to review the numbers contained in the report.

County councillors from those areas were incredulous that their municipalities were at the bottom of the growth projection chart, while other largely rural municipalities were topping the chart.

A resolution brought forward by The Blue Mountains Mayor Ellen Anderson requested the consultants that prepared the report to return for a meeting with lower tier planners to answer 15 questions that have been put forward in recent weeks. The meeting won't cost county taxpayers extra money because the budget for the report included a contingency fund that has more than enough money available to accommodate such a meeting.

The county's planning committee considered a similar motion, but it was defeated after a tie vote at the committee level. Owen Sound representative Arlene Wright - a vocal supporter of the motion throughout the debate - insisted that committee resolution would have passed if she hadn't been required to leave the committee meeting early for another appointment.

"The Provincial Policy Statement directs growth to serviced areas, but the areas with services have been left out. That doesn't make sense," argued Wright.

The debate divided county council almost in half. Those opposed to the resolution accused their colleagues of stall tactics that were unnecessarily delaying the review of the county's Official Plan.

"I don't know what they're trying to achieve. The report was based on factual information. If that information was wrong, it should have been fixed long ago," said Chatsworth Mayor Howard Greig.

"There's no such thing as a perfect projection. People will build where they want to. We can't control that," he said.

Southgate Mayor Don Lewis said he didn't want the five-year review of the Official Plan to last forever.

"I want this five-year review done and finished and not to spend five years reviewing it," said Lewis.

Meaford Deputy Mayor Francis Richardson said it was imperative for the county to get the right statistics and numbers in its Official Plan.

"It's important the lower-tier municipalities agree with the plans of the upper tier. If we don't have that agreement, we'll be in constant conflict," said Richardson. "The figures used for Meaford were way out of date by the time that report was approved. They're so out of line we're going to be in trouble every time we try to do anything," Richardson said.

The Blue Mountains Deputy Mayor and Planning Committee chair Duncan McKinlay said the request for an additional meeting with the consultants was not out of line.

"It's meant to ask the consultants some questions, so there is a great level of comfort. We need more information. We need more discussion. We need to better understand this to use it as a tool," said McKinlay.

When the vote was finally taken, county councillors lined up along urban/rural lines. Councillors from West Grey, Chatsworth, Georgian Bluffs and Southgate voted against the proposal. The lone exception was West Grey Deputy Mayor Dan Sullivan, who favoured Anderson's resolution.

Councillors from Owen Sound, The Blue Mountains, Hanover and Meaford voted in favour. With the county's weighted voted system, the resolution passed 53-42.