Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Thursday he is reversing his plan to open the protected Greenbelt lands for housing development and won’t make any changes to the Greenbelt in the future.

While meeting with his caucus during a retreat this week in Niagara Falls, Ont., Ford said his caucus members shared with him what they have been hearing about the Greenbelt from people in their communities and he is listening.

“I made a promise to you that I wouldn’t touch the Greenbelt. I broke that promise and for that, I’m very, very sorry,” Ford said.

“It was a mistake to open the Greenbelt. It was a mistake to establish a process that moved too fast. This process, it left too much room for some people to benefit over others. It caused people to question our motives. As a first step to earn back your trust, I’ll be reversing the changes we made and won’t make any changes to the Greenbelt in the future.”