The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

THE HERALD Wednesday Jane 1991 Page Opinion Willow Park meeting an exercise in futility The special meeting between s Willow Park residents local politicians and the Credit Valley Conservation Authority held last Wednesday at the Halton Hills Civic Centre was the most disillusioning ex I have ever encountered as a reporter Before the meeting I was lead to believe it was being held to help the residents to relocate In stead the meeting ended up be ing nothing more than an exer cise in futility As Willow Park resident Roger Perryman said three quarters of the way through the half hour session I have walked into another useless meeting For those who dont know the CVCA has expropriated the park land because it is located in the Credit River Floodplain Ac cording to the peoples lives would be at risk if a major flood happened in the area The residents were required to leave the park by May but there are still several mobile homes the park The meeting was totally productive because the par ticipanls failed to address the centreal issue of compensation The residents argue the com pen sation they have so far received as a result of the has been inadequate The compensation package in eluded money to move their mobile homes to a proposed site in Acton and to cover any they had done to their lots None of the resident were permitted to relocate to the Acton site because the Ontario Municipal Board ruled Bens Banter by Ben earlier this year the proposed site was unsuitable for a permanent mobile home park The residents want tion that reflects the value of their respective homes Although the issue of sation was briefly touched upon at the beginning of the meeting the subject was quickly abandon ed only to be reconsidered in response to Mr com ments about the meeting Presumably a meeting is called with an agenda in mind However there appeared to be no agenda for this particular meeting It began with a retelling of the four year saga involving the expropriation I question the purpose of this discussion since the parks history was well known by those attending the meeting It then centred on a long and useless discussion about alter native housing for the residents The point is the residents say they cant afford alternative housing until they receive an im proved compensation package It was obvious that none of the participants had any earlier discussions leading up to the meeting concerning what needed to be addressed It was only Mr comments that focused the meeting on the real issue that be ing compensation And when all was said and done it was evident there was no room for negotia tion Neither the Town North- Halton Noel nor the CVCA was willing to discuss the idea of further compensation The only advice offered the residents was to pursue the issue through the courts a process they had started before the meeting Since this was the situation why have the meeting In the end it did nothing but further frustrate all involved Community in Focus- Only the strong survive The Highland Magic Georgetown tug of war team comprising front to back Kirk Serjeanston Kevin Barrow Wade Serjeanston Mark Murnaghan and Adrian Miller tried valiantly but were bested by a team from Streetsville Legion in the tug of war competition Saturday at the 16th Annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games staged at Georgetowns Fairgrounds Park Herald photo Massed Bands Presentations A treat for those tn attendance at Saturdays 16th Annual Georgetown Scottish Festival and Highland Games was the Massed Bands presentation of pip ing and drumming which filled a huge area at Georgetown Fairgrounds Park There were two Massed Bands presentations under the direction of Drum Larry of the Highlanders Canada Herald photo by Colin Gib son Solitary piper Jim from Don Mills shows total concentration during the Professional March piping competition Saturday at the 16th Annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games at Georgetowns Fairgrounds Avoiding the swords Sword dancing was just one of the many enter taining competitions staged Saturday at the Annual Georgetown Festival and Highland Games held at Georgetowns Fairgrounds Park Pictured above left to right Tamara Henry from Owen Sound and Fiona Kerr from Burlington compete In the Girls Open Sword Dance competition Herald photo Hall of Names The Hall of Names was lust one of the many booths available to visitors who attended last Satur days Annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games staged at the Georgetown Fairgrounds