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Page 20. WNhy Fre Press, Wednesday. November 10,1993 ~BROOKIN } Novemberfest at church MURCOTTE TREE FARM owner Art Mur- with Christmas trees which wilI soon be cotte recently g ave the 21 st Oshawa ready for harvest. Scouts a tour o f bis farm, which is f illed Photo by Mark Reesor, Whltby Free Press Brooklin United Church will hold 'Novemberfeat' on Saturday, Nov. 20, il arn. te 2 p.rn. There will b. home baking, white elephant, crafla, country store items, homernade candy, mincerneat, preserves, nearly-new children's clothing sud more. A homemade soup and sandwich lunch wiil b. aerved from 11:30 a.m. te 2 p.rn. For table rentais, oeil 655-3467. All are welcome. Gospelsngg The. Kiveil Family Singera from Chathami, Ont. will present a concert of traditional gospel music at Burns Church, Ashburn on Sunday, Nov. 14, 7:30 p.m.- Tii. group has received awards, as best groupý, frornthe. Canadian Gospel Music Associa- tion. Gary KivelI was top vocalist for 1992-93. A social heur follows the con- cert. Concern over Brooklin downtown's future i~ FR GM PAGE 1 Whie hua petition originally dernanded removing tiiese deaig- nations from the officiai plan, Little teld committee that is ne longer the case. "W. modified our view because we realiz. some planning must b. don,,» he explained. However, Little asked that some mechanism bo put in place te "ensur. the protection, main- tenance and improvement of existing commercial develop- ment.» That quote was taken fron tii. Dillon report, he neted. Little said council must act now te prot.ct Brooklin'ls down- tewn or it could experience tii. sainie problema that downtewn Whitby now faces. "Mucii lB service has been given t e ti deveiopment of downtown Whitby over the years, but very littie has been accomplished in the, 10 yeara I have been downtewn,» lie said. "In the period 1983 te 1993, as Whitby competed with Ajax and Oshawa for developer's meney, we saw massive prowth in strip plazas surrounding tii. down- tewn core ...rnucii te .th.detri- ment of downtewn.» Little said Brooklin residenta wsut te preserve their down- tewn, but in order te .do s'ô, a astaging policy with respect te future devlopment muet b. im- plemented. Tuhe downtewn must b. perrmit- ted to "grow and proape» before shppinog plazas and strip mails are allowed on tii. village peri- phery, lh. said. Neting that Brooklin bas spproximately 100,000 square feet of commercial apace dewn- tewn, Little said tiie Dillon report would shlow plaza. of bot- ween 80,700 and 161,460 square feet per site. "Onef thes. sien. wouid kill downtewn Brooklin in its early stage of growtii afler sewers in 1995,» h. argu.d. (Sanitary s.wers will b. mastaI- led i Brooklinl during the next two years at a coat of $10.5 million - airnoat 57 per cent of which will b. paid by tiie Ontario - governrnent.) Little said Brooklin residenta do net believe that marketing surveys, which are now required bofore commercial development is allowed te proceed, previde sufficient protection. MTs is more than a planning issue. It ha. te do with maintain- in a way of life » h. said. Mayor Tom Ëdwards did net agree with Little'a commenta that «we've don. notiiing in 10 y ears (about downtewn Whitby)," but h. commended LittIe for lUS "chane acouci cn (Earlier twi year cuclcn olled a co,*tact it iiad with Littleig marketing rirm because of uis vociferous opposition on the. Brooklin issue.) Counillor ennis Fox said Lit- tie raised some "legitimate con- cerna,» but aise thougiit he was uover reacting» te some degree. Fox asked Little why rie did net mention plans for two million square feet of commercial space near Winchester Road and Sir- cee Street i Oshawa. uJust because we're in GM country dosen't mean everyone drives a Chevrolet,» replied Lit- tle. "It do.sn't mean Brooklin can't survive as a amail village (des- Pite growth ail around it),» ho Frankpvich, operator of a Brooklin pharmacy, echoed several of Littie's concerna. "W. feel Brooklin is a special place. We're primariiy concerned with downtown decay and the. eltecta of peripheral strip malls," ah. said. Describing tii. downtown as a "mneeting plc or tiie com munity,» where people from al walks of life congregate, Pranko- vich said the same cannot b. said of shopping plazas. "Shopping mails don't beiong te the. people but te tiie owners. They attract a narrow soclo- economie clientele,» ah. said. Ceuncillor Don Mitchell felt Frankovicii and Little were "right on»"i their commente from a ««competition sense and an estiietie sens..» «I donWt believe malse are th. way te develop ... in many places in Ontario you don't know what cityyou're in," said Mitchell. Al-thougii not convinced that "staging» is tii. best method of accommiodating growth, Mitchell termed it a "planner's dream te talc. what we learned tii. lasat 20 years sud turn tuis intc Bsorne- thing apecial.» Councillor Rosa Batten, coni- mittee chair, promised Little and Frankovich that their concerna will b. heeded. «What we will corne forward with may not be the 'b. al sud end ail' b ut the. end goal is that downtown Brooklin wiil be allowed te, survive,'» said Batten. A separate study on Brooklin te cever sucii topics as parking, landsca nsd infilling, will b.e unrtken next year, Batten said. Funding for tii. study will corne from developers of the mas- sive 1,247-unit Brooklin Mea- dows subdivision te b. built on 260 acres of land border.d by Columbus Road, Winchester Road, Queen Streeet sud Thick- son Road,. In a subsequent interview, Frankovich teld Tue Free Press that ah. feela that council and her association share the. sanie goals. "I do bolieve we ail want tue same thing, what's best for Whitby in general and Brooklin specifically,» ah. said. «I feel botter from tii. point of view that tiie committe. and council are aware of the Down- town Brooklin Business Associa- tion and that we are concerned and want te b. kept informed.» But, how thoroughly her group's concerna are addressed romains te bo seen, Frankovich acknowledged. "W. realize that as tii. popula- tion grows people will require more services than downtewn Brooklin can provide,» ah. said. "]But we wsut the. Town to enact a policy on ataging as the population grows." Frankovich is wary of "mnarket surveys» being used te determine whether more development is warranted. "I don't bolieve market surveys ofl'er protection. Tuey can easily b. swayed,» ah. said. Association chair Connie Heron concurred with the need te, fhase in commercial growth an added that downtewn mer- chants would have preferred te, see aanitary sewers inatalled next year rather tiian 1995. «W. asaumed tiiey would corne in tii. firat year, now it'a tii. second ... tiiats a big concern,» said Heron. "Being on se ptic (tanks) put us on hoid for a let of years. We'd like it te corne sooner 50 we can do thinga witii our buildings,» ah. said. (Due te engineering concerna, Brookiin'a commercial sector can- not receive its sewera until the areas abutting tii. downtewn are serviced firat, a Town staff report states.) Heron conceded that tii. plan- ned aubdivizion will change tii. "ch aracter» of tii. village, but ah. feels Brooklin can maintain ita identity. "It was eur generation that went down te Witby te fight te, keep our naine wiien tiiey (Town) took us over,» ah. recalled. "It will b. quit. different for us but we do need sewers.» Mitchell agrees that Brooklin "wili change a lot,» as a result of tii. subdivision and a projected population of 25,000. Yet, h. féels the. village can retain ita "amail tewn» appeal. "W. won't b. able to out mail' Winchester and Simcoe, Brock sud Taunton, but tiiey can't ever have a saal tewn character» said Mitchell. However, Mitchell does net agre. that Lstaging» development is the solution th the downtewn'a prcibiems. «I tiiink we siiould delineate the. ultimate ares of tii. down- tewn, setting it at a population of 25,000,» Mitchell expiaîneë. "If you do that and put aIl of the. commercial allocation in that area, no on. wiil b. able te siiove perimeter devel.pment down anyone stbroat,» h. added. Brooklin Day Nursery will hold the. annual Christmas bazaar Saturday, Nov. 27, 10 a.m. te 2 p.m., at 14 Churcii St. in Brooklin. Admission is free. Donations of non-perishable food items will be accepted. For more information, cail Tracey at 655-3864. IIISTORICAL FEATURE in the. Whitby Free Press 1. How many Whitby resicients were killed in World War 1 and Il? 2.When was the Whitby conotaph dedicated and by whom? 3.Where was the Whitby Armories building locatod from 1899to 1946? 4. Where did Branch 112 of the Royal Canadian Legion moot before its hall was built on Byron Street in 1944-45? Answers on Page 27 This feature provided by L.c Ar ct.rJ C.,rdi... Advisorr5 C...ittea * a. 'SPrk er Senseless tirade There is something about Question Period in the Legilature that attracts the moat irnitating and unattractive members to moralize the deeds of the goveruiment in a spirit ofabsurd partisanship. Talc., for an example, the spprrow-menacimg, top C-crushing Libera:I member for Egigtn, Diane Poole. During Question Period asat week, Ms. Pool. stood up to, accuse the government of pork barrelling governiment projects into ridings held by the NDP, in the hope of their winning the election coming in 1995. This senseleas tirade muet have made the Libers] member for Northumberland cringe. After ail, her riding had just received government funding; of over $1.5 million for two new libraries, while this riding received nothing. Anyway, the Premier got to bis feet te refute tii. aflegations made by Ms. Pool. and -said that the Lanark/Renfrew riding of Conservative member Leo Jordan had been the recipient of more government grants than any other member in the Legislature sfince the NDP formed the government. Ms. Poole got te her feet and, wth voice tone sufficient te break every glass near at hand, claimed the Premier's figures were akin te outright fraud. Completely umscripted, Mr. Jordan jumped te bis feet on a point of personal privilege and said that he wanted te verify the Premier's assesament of grants awarded his riding as being absolutely correct. This exchange, te me, was politics at its best, or depending on which aide you're on, its worst. I would imagine sorne Liberal researcher on the carpet over this, much 1ke they muet have been the. week before over the questions raised in respect te the millions in welfare going te Somalia warlords. Last week at Queen's Park, many members were butten-holed by the press for commenta about the so-cailed "crisi' in caucua surrounding the. leadership of Premier Bob Rae.. In fact, one press story reperted that our weekly Tuesday caucus meeting was te become some internai leadership showdown. To ail of this, I say, utter and complet. rubbish. I and my coleagues in government ail support the Premier and stand behind him. Personaliy, I can't think of anyone who is more capale o being the leader of the NDP. rve.read ail about the o-aedpolsethat have said h. should resign and the. blame attached for the. defeat of many NDP federal members in the recent election. To those, I say, corne inte the real world. No government faced with making teugh decisions is ever popular. The. teugh decisions we have been forced te make have, in turn, fratured our relationdlup between our traditional supporters, union memberahi p Willy-nil, therefore, moet pipe are reiuctantly waking up te the realization that semething vaguely important is going on and the electability of NDP members is at stake. Ini my opinion, the. NDP cannot wash away ail of the. union problema they see as a resuit of our policies. However, I believe we can create a coherent program for the. party. But unlesail those who seek the-kind of sciety they want te live in quit their persistent sniping, neither Bob Rcae nor any replacement perceived'te b. coming eut of the. wilderness te, lead an innovative NDP in Ontario wiil b. entrusted with being the. government of Ontauio in 1995. 10 9