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rant enzies Vol. 3 No. 1 THURSDAY, JANUARY 4,1973 10 CENTS PER COPY Playground waiting for By Bill Williams WHITBY-A worried group of Whitby mothers have Iaunched an appeal to the town to have a fence erected along the northern perimeter of Blair Park to pre- vent children from straying onto railway tracks bordering the playground area. What worries them though is an apparent lack of interest in their plight by some miunicipal officiais after telephone calis and an carlier approach by a major industry in the area. Now, Mrs. Charlane McDoweIl, 223 Rosedale, has written a letter to council detailing the problem in the hope that sonething wiII be done before a child is killed. At thîe root of the problein is thie CPR main hune track wicl swîings norli of Ithe perinîcter of the park anîd a buffer zone, also owîied by the town aI [lie niortliern end of' the playgrotund. The tracks ai ibis point -ire wîde open fer entry by aiîy clîild straying froni thîe piark conines. Cenipouniding the probleni is a spur Ue te accidents the Raiston Purina plant. This spur, while on company prop- erty and land owned by ci- ther the town or the railway, is also widc open 10 trespass by unsuspecting clilidren. Recognized This is a fact recognized by the Puritia management wlîo carlier approached tlîe town abouit building a fence 10 segregate thieir own prop- erty and keep out trespassers. to The town rejoinder was s0 noncommital that the firm lias flot gone ahead with the projeet until a decision on a spur extension has been made. Howcver, more t0 the point and the real worry 10 mothers whose chiîdren use, the park facilities, is about one-qilarber mile of main line track, hcavily îravclled during dayliglît hours by freight trains travelling up to 60 miles an hour past the peri- meter of thie own property. Mrs. McDowell,who moved ie tewn recently, said the nearîiess of the track hazard did uîot becorne apparent until af'ter tbe fainily inoved mbt the liouse. "Even witlb fenced yards a tremnendous danger exists," she said, because uittle lots onfly have 10 walk a short distance aloîîgthie streets 10 tind access via the corniniuîity- owned eiîîraiîceway to tlîe pýark. Tliis is nol feniced," suie said. Wanders Iii lier case, Mrs. McDowel lias a daugliter, 3, and a son. 1. Tue baby isn't a problemn Yet but ilie littîe pgi is ai idie age where she loves te varder anid slîe adores trains. Wiîh a baby it is diffiilû te keep ani eye on tlîe eIder girl aI ail tihues Mien slîe is ou tside. 1 ain I*riglitenied 1o deathi she iay waîder ie Uithepark and, because of lier love of trains, imiglit stray ente tie tracks anîd be killed," stie said. "But tucre is a furtlier reasen 10 believe the îracks are a daniger," sfic said. "Tlie park bias an equipped play- groLind arîd a fully service- able basebaîl dianond. It nat- urally serves ils purpese anid attracts children. Many of îhem stay wiliin ihe park airea, suieccniniucd, "but, as cldre,î do, tbecy semnetinmes tire and begin te look lfor otlier sources et' iiiiterest." Nirs. McDowell posed tie question: "XVi thi railreoad tracks se clese anîd withî un- restricted access, is it any woender iliat clijîdren ean of- ten be seen on thli railiroad riglit-t-way anid, in fact, play- inig on thle ac tual rail Iiiie?" N'rs. McDowell aIse poiiîted Oui thiat nunierous cli ildren ttendîing a necarby Catlîelic school Lise an abandoned walkway across the tracks te reacb their scbool. "1 adinit- a bus picks children uip at a necarby intersection aîd Iliere happen kids will be kids, and many prefer to walk and make use of the pathway as a short Cult. Encroach Robert Johnson, manager of the Purina operation, told the FREE PRESS no com- plaints about their spur had been received by his firm. It is completely on private prop- erty," hie said, "and should flot be trespassed upon!" However, Mr. Johnson' said children frequently encroach on the property and, in win- ter, it is a favorite short eut for snowmobilers heading for open spaces te the north. As a result, Purina lias asked the town their views on the firmn erecting a fence on their property line. The town told the firm to please itself but there is a possibility the spur may be extended to the soutlh and, if this happens, expensive fencing would be destroyed when the work commiiences. Because of this thie company lias delayed taking action but i-, conccrnied that the town canntot provide more definite iniformation rcgarding future ) la nl S. M rs. Mavau-neen Seed- flouse, anc [ber rLs.:de11t of the area, aIse coniplained tlîat the lack of fencîng along the railway right-of-way is a defi- file hazard. "My own children are a litile older Ilian soniîe who play tliere but I can sym- pathize witli those miothers wbo have voiced objections," she said. "There are miany children wbo do stray int the danger area," she said, "anîd il is a distinct possibility senîeone will be injured as a resit." A eall to the Whitby Re- creation Departinent by tlhe Free Press, received the ab- rupt reply thiat îbey hiad re- ceived no coniplaints. The recreatien director verifiedý the park was tewn-owned as is the buffer zone betweeîî il and the rail uine. He said property fiùits were onrly iarked by boundary posîs and adniitted the uine was openi to easy access fromi town property. A littie encouragement, please When the mighty mites of the BrooklinWhitby Minor Hockey Loaque take to the ice thora are varying reactions from the vouUfl team mem- bers. Aged betwoon 5 and 8, these youngstOIls are taught the fundamontals of the game wolI in advance of the year they will actually take to the ice for lbague contosts. In thoir oagerness ta piease, some of the youngsters gt mighty upset Mhen things go wrang. More, one of the down- hearted mites jets a little encouragemfenlt from a team coach, one of many parents of the youngstors should ho gratef ul to. Council split on arena proposai see poge 2 i 1