During my career I had the opportunity of living in some
nice cities and enjoyed it very much. I spent two years in London England
living in the Kensington High Street area in a lovely 3 bedroom flat. I lived
for a year in Santa Monica in a beautiful Condo Complex at Marina Del Rey and
had Mick Jagger as a neighbor in the building next to mine. I also did a half
year stint in Boston. We lived and raised our children in Scarborough for 17
years. In all cases my wife and I enjoyed the amenities that were offered and
the many conveniences. As expected we paid dearly for those conveniences.
After a hectic 35 year business career, I decided that I
would forego some of those amenities for a simpler way of life. I chose
Springwater because of its natural setting and its collection of small
communities. Maybe I am selfish, but I think many people moved here for the
same reason.
Last weekend I was reminded of why I moved to Springwater Township
when I semi-retired. I attended two Church Suppers on Saturday. I visited the
Grenfel United Church supper attended by about 150 people and also the Midhurst
United Church Supper attended by about 300 people. These events are the true
marks of rural living and the very reason why so many want to protect it
against the speculators and profiteers that have invaded the Midhurst area in
recent years. Where do you find gatherings today when many faces are recognized
when you go into the room. You may not know them by name but you have seen them
in your community on a regular basis.
Contrasting that was the open house on Wednesday to view the
subdivision plans for the Mega Developments in Midhurst. Effectively, if both
phases are allowed to proceed, there will be another 10,000 homes or about
28,000 more people in this rural peaceful hamlet. It is simply crazy. The plans
for the approved lands outlined two areas of development around Midhurst with
the first phase requesting the approval of zoning for over 5,000 new dwelling
units. That would represent a 400% increase in the number of homes in Midhurst
in the first phase. If the second phase proceeds that would present an 800%
increase in the number of homes. As far as the neighborhood designs on these tiny
lots, they are quite good and if they were situated in the annexed lands in
Barrie, they make perfect sense and would complement the similarly designed
developments you find in Barrie. None of the plans presented complement any of
the existing community designs in Midhurst today or any other area of
Springwater. The big disappointment is that our council passed a resolution to
simply address a few nuances such as wider streets, some wider lots, room for
snow storage and other matters of this nature and forward the comments to the
OMB as the landowners and developers have bypassed the normal township
controlled planning process. No one on council said that the entire rezoning
application is unsuitable and contrary to the existing character of Midhurst or
Springwater. The motion passed unanimously.
The atrocity of the Midhurst Secondary Plan and the Mega
City developments can be stopped or greatly curtailed but you must get
involved. If you don’t engage then you must be prepared to accept the
consequences, which is simply the destruction of a unique community that has
survived for over 150 years. Call your councillors and ask them to at least
take a strong position at the OMB hearings on the rezoning matter. Currently it
appears that aside for the minor nuances, they plan to take a passive role and
not protect the distinct character of our existing communities.
To show how forthright our elected officials are, I emailed
a variety of questions to Collins, Hanna and McConkey that sit on the
Environmental Assessment Committee for the Mega Development. This was prompted
by Deputy Mayor McLean’s comment in his recent letter to the editor that our
elected officials are ensuring that everything will be environmentally
protected with the Midhurst Mega Developments Plans for water and sewage
treatment. I received this response from Councillor Hanna “I provide the
following in response to your questions. I am not responding on behalf of the
E. A. Committee or Council. I can confirm that there have been two meetings of the
E. A. Committee. I cannot provide the minutes. You may wish to check the Twp
web site.
I will ensure that the rest of your questions are advanced
at our next E A or liaison committee meeting and seek an appropriate response”.
From McConkey the response was “We have had 2 meetings. I want to respect the
Mayor and her message in keeping with the protocol of communication from these
meetings. I understand from her response that she will be referring your
questions to the next meeting for a response”.
I received this response from Mayor Collins, “In keeping with the
protocol of communication from these meetings, I thank you for your questions
and will refer them to the next EA meeting for response.”. For those that
attend the planning and council meetings this is a normal response from the
Mayor on any subject. She must be a mushroom grower as she is great at keeping
you in the dark and covering you with manure. My questions were not exactly
threatening since the first two asked about how many meetings had been held and
if there were minutes published. Hanna and McConkey at least answered some of
them. And just to confuse issues the CAO emailed me and said there was only one
EA meeting. I also saw a timeline chart that
suggested by now there should have been 7 or 8 meetings of each committee.
It is important to study the candidates for the Municipal
Election in the Fall and find out who is running. Unfortunately, the current
council is being coy and have not filed their nomination papers and will
probably wait until the last minute hoping that the OMB will make a decision on
Midhurst so they don’t have to deal with it. In my eyes that is cowardice. You
have seen recent articles from two of our elected officials and both
conveniently blame someone else. That might work in government jobs but never
seems to work in the real world. It is time to remind them that we do live in
the real world and not some parallel universe.
It’s your choice!
705-718-7031
