It was billed as a discussion and a
dialogue, and sometimes that was the case. The Guelph Civic League hosted a
town hall-style event last Thursday in Norfolk United Church, where members of
the community were invited to hear from all sides about the issues involving
the development of the Hanlon Creek Business Park. It was a packed house, as
evident by the fact that more and more chairs had to be brought out to accommodate
the masses. Clearly this issue has struck a chord in the public, and though the
atmosphere was mostly collegial, there was something else there under the
surface.
The panel was made up of Judy Martin
(Sierra Club Canada and Guelph Urban Forest Friends), James Gordon (Wellington
Water Watchers), Matt Soltys (Land Is More Important than Sprawl), Councillor
Lise Burcher (Chair of Community Design and Environmental Services Committee,
City of Guelph), Peter Cartwright (General Manager of Economic Development and
Tourism, City of Guelph) and Lloyd Longfield (Guelph Chamber of Commerce). The
panel was kind of split up along Crossfire lines. Everybody had five minutes to
open with their point of view, comment on they’re position or their
organization’s position and maybe wrestle with a Power Point presentation.
During the Q&A portion was where the
civility of the evening suffered the biggest threat of fracturing. Cartwright,
and to a certain extent Longfield, took the brunt of the questioners’ tone.
Many seemed to suggest some sort of conspiracy theory on the part of the city
to get the HCBP done as quickly and quietly as possible. A third year zoology
student from the University of Guelph accused Cartwright and of his office of
denying her the chance to study the Jefferson Salamander in the HCBP site, and
that he’s been ignoring her phone calls and e-mails. Cartwright responded that
he’s done no such thing and the reason she was denied access to the site was
for a liability issue. Panellist Gordon riffed on this statement later when he
said that he didn’t realize he was a liability issue when he’s gone there to
walk the grounds.
But of more universal concern was a lack of
information about the current plan, or the fact that this plan is being pushed
ahead in spite of the fact that there are currently no tenants lined up, or
just generally the prevailing economic conditions. Also mentioned was the
prevalence of brownfields and the increasing number of vacant industrial areas
in the city limits. The question was why do we need to lose more greenspace
because of all these factors, to which Cartwright said that the point was to
have a “good product mix” for potential businesses in the city.
As the meeting wrapped, it seemed that the
civil feeling of the room was sort of encountering a rough patch. Obviously,
with everyone piling on the city staff, things seemed to be a little one-sided.
Burcher was the last one to speak during the one-minute wrap-up, and she got a
“Shame” and a “How about you listen?” in response to a couple of her comments.
Clearly, many of the people at the meeting were of one mind on the issue of
this development, if not development generally. While some agreed that
development, to a degree, was necessary, others were emphatic in their belief that
any amount of development on the HCBP site is too much. This debate is far from
over.
In memoriam…
By the time this hits newsstands, the
Family Thrift Store will be no more. Despite the protests and the lamentations
and the media attention, Ray Mitchell’s mecca of all things practical and
curious shuttered its storefront after a week long celebration affectionately
called “Thrift Stock.” Bands like Evan and the Sad Clowns, The Magic, The
D'Urbervilles, Tacoma Hellfarm Tragedy, The Saltlick Kids, Richard Laviolette
and His Hollow Hooves, The Neutron Stars, and The Burning Hell all played sets
during the seven night celebration. Family Thrift Store: you will be missed.
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