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( Editorial Comment Irreparable Growth Pattern The Town of Newcastle must decide decide whether rural areas will be devoted devoted to agriculture or to residential residential land use. You don't have to be an expert in municipal planning to see that the countryside is experiencing most of the current residential growth. Take a Sunday drive and you'll find a large number of estate residential dwellings springing up on rural side roads. Bowmanville, on the other hand, hasn't had a major subdivision subdivision in almost a decade. Rural growth is especially disappointing disappointing when you consider the fact that the municipality expected development development to be centred in urban areas. Millions were spent in Bowmanville, Bowmanville, for example, to bring the town's water and sewer systems up to date. Old population forecasts for Bowmanville, Bowmanville, Newcastle and Courtice are almost humorous when you look at them in retrospect and see the incredibly optimistic growth figures figures expected. With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that the town would have been wiser if it had asked the Durham Region to spend some of its millions on a plan for orderly growth in hamlets and villages. Central water supplies could have been developed, and small-scale sewer systems installed. Country living seems to be what the buying public sees when it looks at the possibility of moving to East Durham. Our greatest asset is community community life in a country or small town setting and not the kind of suburban suburban sprawl that can be found closer to Toronto. A combination of country lots near existing communities and on low quality farmland would have been a better solution. This could have been combined with a policy for high-density apartments or single-family units in the main centres. Of course, in a free country such as ours, much of the decisions are the result of political actions and not text-book planning. What we have today is a municipality municipality in which housing has made sizeable inroads into the town's farming districts. The-result-is- a multitude of problems:' Study Calls Another day, another study. This time, it's the town's fire protection protection services which have been placed under the microscope of a consultant hired by the Town of Newcastle and Ontario Hydro. The conclusions, which have not yet been endorsed by town council, suggest it will take several hundred thousand municipal dollars to upgrade upgrade fire protection here. Of course, any estimate is difficult difficult because some recommendations recommendations are to be implemented gradually, gradually, which means that costs will be spread over several years. Others, are to consist of the hiring of additional additional staff. And that means salary costs would begin now and continue continue year after year. ' Although there are numerous recommendations, recommendations, it seems to us that they can be grouped into three areas: First, there's a suggested increase increase in equipment. This includes a new pumper to be based in Bowmanville Bowmanville and three tanker trucks. Next, there's a recommendation regarding increased manpower. The study advises the town to hire two more full-time firefighters so that it will have enough personnel to provide permanent daytime fire protection service at the station in Bowmanville. In addition, there's a recommendation recommendation for the hiring of additional part time personnel in order to make certain that no fire station For one thing, farmland is gone forever once it has been taken over by residential land use. Secondly, the new residents who have moved to the country are more inclined to restrict the activities of nearby farmers. There are bound to be conflicts conflicts as old and new residents quarrel over such matters as noise and odors resulting from agricultural agricultural operations. But, to be fair, the blame cannot be placed on newcomers who have moved in. All of them purchased lots and built their homes legally and they are entitled to their rights as citizens. Keep in mind, also, the fact that the countryside was once exclusively used for agriculture. At some point in time, it was the farmers, farmers, themselves, who allowed the land to change hands by either subdividing subdividing their holdings or selling them to non-farmers. Should local government have forced them to maintain farmland? It's a difficult question to answer-- especially when you consider the fact that property owners ought to have the right to buy and sell land as they see fit. And then, there's the old argument argument that a strong agricultural economy economy is the best defence against disappearing farmland. This argument argument states that if farmers are making making a profitable living, they will either not sell their property in the first place or they will sell only to fellow-farmers who will be eagerly waiting to purchase such a valuable commodity as food-producing property. property. The challenge facing the Town of Newcastle is to maintain harmony between existing agricultural operations operations and existing rural residences. residences. In addition, there's the need to protect valuable farm property property against any further inroads caused by residential growth. Finally, the town will have to maintain the delicate balance between between residential and agricultural land use without interfering with our traditional rights to buy and sell property and to live where we please. It's a tall order. And it's just one - -more example of why theqob of the politician is not an easy one. for Changes has fewer than 25 volunteers. Finally, there's a suggested joint venture between the town and Ontario Ontario Hydro to construct a training centre at the site of the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. This . centre would be used by firefighting firefighting staff at Darlington as well as the town's own fire personnel. Ontario Hydro has agreed to pay half the cost of the training facility. In addition, Hydro has agreed that its share of upgrading facilities will amount to $181,000. That means the town can draw on $181,000 from Hydro before it has to tap the municipal treasury to make the necessary improvements. The most controversial item contained contained in the study is a suggestion that the northernmost fire station planned in the Enniskillen area may not be needed for another three years or so. The consultant has concluded that fire calls are not sufficient in the northernmost portion portion of the town to warrant a fire station. The station should only be built when there is enough of a population to justify it, the report says. The consultants state that it would be better to spend half a million million dollars improving firefighting capabilities at other stations than to invest the same amount of cash into a facility in the north. In any future discussions, that issue is bound to become a political "hot potato". (Eanabtan Statesman 623-3303 (+CNA Durham County's Great Family Journal Established 130 years ago In 1854, Also Incorporating The Bowmanville News The Newcastle Independent The Orono News Second class mall registration number 1561 Produced every Wednesday by THE JAMES PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED 62-86 King St. W., Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K9 v-l*® O L h JOHN M. JAMES Editor -- Publisher GEO. P. MORRIS Business Mgr. BRIAN PURDY Advertising Mgr. RICHARD A. JAMES Assistant Publisher DONALD BISHOP Plant Mgr. All layouts and composition ol advertisements produced by the employees ol The Canedlan Statesman, The Newcnsilo Independent and The James Publishing Company Limited are protected by copyright and must nol be reproduced without written permission ol lire publishers. $ 15.00 a year -- 6 months S8.00 strictly In advance foreign -- $45.00 a year Allhoutjli ovary pincnuliim will bo inkun In avoid orror, Tho Canadian Statesman nccopls culvortisliit] In its columns on llm undoislnndimi thaï II will not bn liable tor any orror In lira ndvorllsonwn! published heroundor unlor.il a proof ol such advertisement is turiuosled m willing by lira advertiser and returned lo The Canadian Sinter,man business nllicn duly signed by lira ndvotlisur and with such orror or corrodions plainly noted In willing thoiobn. and In Ihal case II any oiror so nourri is nol colluded by lira Canadian stnlosinan Ils liability shall nol exceed such a portion ol lira nnlim cost ol such Klvurlir.lnmnt ns lira spacu occupied by lira noted mioi huais lo lira wholo spaco occupied by such iidvinlisomonl Section Two The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, September 26,1984 3 Fall Festival SUGAR and SPICE „ , Politics and Politicians This is being written just before the election, so there is no hindsight in it. \V According to those arbiters of elections, the polls and the press, it's going to be a sweep for the Tories. I don't particularly trust either of them. They are often away off the mark. After a couple of bum raps, and laboring under the awesome load of patronage laid on him by Trudeau, John Turner picked up a couple of fumbles and headed for the goalline, goalline, finishing like a champion. Too late? Score too high against for a last-ditch rally? Probably. As far as the two front-runners are concerned, I'd feel a lot safer, and it's just a gut feeling, with John Turner as Prime Minister. I have a sense that he might have cleaned up the mess left to him, re-energized the country, and perhaps resolved the bitterness of the West, inherited from Trudeau. He seems smart and tough, and not afraid to face unpleasant questions. Mulroney, too, is smart and tough, and oh, so glib. It's only a personal opinion, but there seems a lack of substance there. We'll see. Ed Broadbent fought the good, losing fight in a manner to be admired. But, of course, when you're not going to win, you can promise the moon, look good, and not have to come through on your pledges. ; On- the whole, the election campaign was not one-eighth as exciting as the Olympics which made every Canadian's blood tingle. What intrigues me is that the candidates airily throw about figures in the billions of our money. It's "We" will do this, and "We" will spend only so many billions, and "We" will improve everything and cut the deficit and cure unemployment and all the other ills. With whose money? Let me predict, though my success rate in reading entrails (and there are a lot of them lying around these days) is questionable. Whoever wins will make scarcely a dent in unemployment; the. Canadian dollar will continue to lurch around the 75 cent U.S. buck; inflation will still be tied to the U.S. rates; taxes will go up (they never go down); the Canadian armed forces will continue to be the laughing stock of NATO. Want some more? Okay. The provinces will continue to bicker among themselves and with the federal government. There will be massive strikes, always called at the most inconvenient moment-for the public. This: .will produce a hardening on the part of government, leading to more confrontation rather than conciliation. Our great imbalance in tourism will continue, perhaps grow. Despite the groans of Canadians, they will still flock south in the winter. You can hardly move in Florida without stumbling over a Canadian. Farmers will continue to go broke, especially in the West, where in some parts this summer they have suffered unmitigated disasters from kindly, old Mother Natüre. Women have been promised, vaguely, all sorts of things, but will have to go right on fighting for every inch of ground. And so on. Had enough? Me too. Just don't expect Paradise Regained, no matter which of those two smart, tough, rich lawyers comes out on top. However, Canada will survive, lumbering along somehow, not too productive, not rushing in where angels fear to tread, not setting the world on fire, but still filled with people of decent' intentions, great natural resources (or what's left of them) and wonderful scenery and generally a good standard of living. There's no other country in the ' World I'd rather live in, and I've seen a few. That's enough of the Cassandra bit. Let's end on a lighter note. I came across something on the sports page that I must share. It was in the Toronto Star, which is not noted for its proof-reading skills. It seems that a Toronto golfer of whom I've never heard, called Jerry Anderson, placed second in the West German Open golf tournament. He made page seven in the sports section. Jolly good, Jerry, considering your handicap. I quote: "Anderson picked up $15,450 -- the biggest prize of his career ... He had nine brides in all, four in an outward 32 and five in the last eight holes . . . Anderson's only slip was to take four on the short seventh hole." You can see what I mean by a handicap. How can a guy win a tournament when he's taken a total of 13 brides? For the non-golfer, "bride" is a misprint for "birdie", which is good. Not that brides are bad. But 13 of them? Poor devil, he was lucky to be able to lift his club. R.R. 4, Bowmanville L1C3K5 September 17,1984 Dear Sir: I found it exceedingly strange to find letters which were not addressed to you being published! These missives were to inform inform you that, since you had not decided to publish my letter defending Bill Smiley's article, "Education Stalemate", Stalemate", it was necessary to lake my own measures. It is still incomprehensible to me that you would print a defamatory defamatory comment (Mr. Will- shire's) but nothing to the approbation of Mr. Smiley. So be it. We do, I am led to believe, live in a democracy. As I have received several enquiries regarding the missing missing link, so to speak, in the letters you chose to publish, I am taking the liberty to enclose enclose a copy of my letter of the 18th August, in the vague hope that it might reach the "free" press. Sincerely, Wanda Ball R.R. 4, Bowmanville L1C3K5 August 18,1984 The Editor Canadian Statesman Bowmanville Ontario Dear Sir: Reference: Letter by R. L. Willshcr Board of Trustees Northumberland and Newcastle Board of Education Isn't freedom of the Press a marvellous tiling? The attributes to Bill Smiley's intellect, integrity and depth of understanding (after thirty or more years in the classroom) made by the above-mentioned (an appropriate appropriate noun comes to mind but taste forbids its use) appalls me! I am terrified that Mr. Willsher's remarks will be acceptable to the unknowing, uninformed, inexperienced voters (after all, a community does get the calibre of representation representation it has voted for). I liken Mr. Willsher's comments comments to those who know all about their friends, acquaintances acquaintances or neighbours but never know them! He has doubtless been briefed by educational administrators, psychologists, sociologists and guidance counsellors (some of whom have never worked outside outside the classroom) who benefit benefit by and love the system in Ontario. What a lost commodity commodity -- common sense, a product product in inordinately short supply, In the writer's span of thirty years teaching (?) -- yes the uneducnble, the unwilling, as well as the exceptionally bright, in nil areas from Poly- technical Institutes through Junior High School, in lier opinion Bill Smiley's "Education "Education Stalemate" is "dead on." The only apology needed is from Mr. Willsher who has not experienced a class, with maybe as many as forty-one students (I use the term loosely), loosely), embracing the three categories. categories. To comment on and refute all the inaccuracies would require require a book, however, with respect to the exceptionally gifted child in Ontario, herein has been a great neglect except, except, perhaps, in large urban areas. Since the middle '60's the catering has been to the mediocre, inept and unadaptable. unadaptable. Yet, what is education's aim in Mr. Willsher's opinion? What kind of nation do wc want? In short, what is his philosophy of education? Perhaps a more comprehensive comprehensive view might be obtained by reading the views of St. Thomas Aquainus, Sir Richard Livingstone, John Dewey (when it fails in the U.S.A., then wc'll try it here! ) or Neatby's "So Littles For the Mind." Why nol live dangerously, Mr, Willshcr? Think. Sincerely, Wanda Ball Studies like this one are interesting interesting only because they usually form the basis for future action by the municipality. Keep in mind the fact that all decisions in the fire study have been based solely on technical technical considerations. The recommendations have yet to go through the political mill. And it is up to the politicians to take action, action, either accept, reject, or modify the contents of the report. Frankly, we don't foresee councillors councillors spending any vast sums of money to upgrade the fire department department in an election year. They'll spend the sums which Ontario Hydro is willing to contribute towards towards upgrading the fire department, department, But they are unlikely to make any commitments to the tax bill. There is one possibility that docs not seem to have been addressed in the fire protection report. The report sets the stage for the sharing of training facilities with the Ontario Ontario Hydro fire brigade on staff at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. But it does not suggest another possibility. Why not integrate the Ontario Hydro firefighters into the rest of the town's fire protection system. It's true that the staff firefighters firefighters at Darlington could hardly serve as a first line of defence. But they could certainly provide back-up assistance in the event of large-scale fires in the town. This would be a means of augmenting the town's fire protection without large additional expenses. It would require special arrangements between between the Town of Newcastle and Hydro. But in other matters, the partnership has proved very successful. successful. It's certainly an option worth considering, considering,