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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, Ja nu ar y 17 ,2 01 9 | 6 claims of saving money by amalgamation have always failed to deliver savings and have always produced more expensive local govern- ment," he said. Equally important to the financial aspects, Bonnette said government must be responsive. He cited an emergency meeting that was called Monday to ad- dress parking on the boule- vard section of driveways in the town as an example. He wonders if issues like that would be addressed as quickly as part of a Halton- wide government. Burlington Mayor Mari- anne Meed Ward agrees. "There is something about local government that we need to protect and preserve because it pro- vides immediate and direct access, and we have learned through planning matters that residents want to have as much control as possible over not just planning mat- ters, but really any issue that directly affects their lives. They want that con- trol locally," she said. Bonnette worries the re- view itself could have an ef- fect on responding prompt- ly to residents' concerns. He's unsure how long the review will take, but said if it's to be thorough, it will take a lot of Town staff's time to provide the infor- mation that is required by the province. Amalgamation would also raise the question of Halton Hills' re- presentation. Bonnette said when Mike Harris' Conservative government was contem- plating amalgamating mu- nicipalities in 2000, he saw one proposal that broke down the representation for Halton where Halton Hills had just one seat on a 16-member council. Currently, Burlington and Oakville have seven representatives on Halton council, Milton has five and Halton Hills has three. Bon- nette said Halton Hills would have to undergo rap- id growth similar to Milton in order to increase its re- presentation at an amal- gamated regional coun- cil."That's not the vision we have in Halton Hills. We don't want to roll back the Greenbelt to get re- presentation," he said. "That's what makes us unique." Continued from page 5 STORY BEHIND THE STORY Province's review of regional government could have far-reaching effects for residents of Halton. THE ISSUE: THE PROVINCE'S REVIEW OF REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS COULD RESULT IN AMALGAMATION OF THE REGION'S FOUR MUNICIPALITIES LOCAL IMPACT: MAYOR RICK BONNETTE QUESTIONS WHETHER IT WOULD NEGATIVELY IMPACT REGION THAT IS WELL RUN TO BEGIN WITH The Town of Halton Hills has chained down the soccer nets in Cedarvale Park af- ter residents discovered they had been pushed into Silver Creek on Jan. 1. Georgetown resident Bob Baron no- ticed the vandalism while taking a walk with his wife in the park on New Year's Day. "The park is one among many beautiful spaces in our town and it was very sad to see the vandalism," Baron told the IFP. "So many people, by their volunteer efforts and overall support for our community, demonstrate appreciation and caring for our town and its facilities. It is dishearten- ing to see that there are some in our midst who willfully damage and disrespect us all by their actions." "We were made aware of this senseless vandalism," Mayor Rick Bonnette said, adding that the matter was subsequently turned over to public works. Dick Spear, superintendent of public works, said the nets were removed from the creek on Jan. 3 and have been chained down in an effort to avoid any further acts of vandalism. The incident has not been reported to the Halton Regional Police Service. CEDARVALE PARK SOCCER NETS CHAINED DOWN AFTER BEING FOUND IN SILVER CREEK VERONICA APPIA vappia@metroland.com The soccer nets in Cedarvale Park were found to have been pushed into Silver Creek over the holidays. Bob Baron photo SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT THEIFP.CA NEWS