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A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday July 4. 2001 T h e Oakville B eaver Ian Oliver Publisher Neil Oliver .Associate Publisher Norman Alexander Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Steve Crozier Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager Mark Dills Production Manager Riziero Vertolli Director o f Photography I & Distributing Ltd.. includes: Ajax/Pickering Herald/Courier, A rthur Enterprise News. Barrie Advance. Barry's Bay This Week. Boltqn Enterprise. Brampton Guardian. B u rlin g to n P o s t. B u rlin g to n S h o p p in g N e w s . C ity P a re n t, Collingwood/W asaga Connection, East Mark Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country R o u te s. E to b ic o k e G u a rd ia n , F la m b o ro u g h P o s t. G e o rg e to w n Independent/Acton Free Press, Harriston Review, Huronia Business Times, K ingston This W eek, L indsay This W eek, M a rkh am E cnom ist & Sun, M idla n d /P e n e ta n g u ish in e M irror. M ilton C a na d ian C h am pion . M ilton Shopping News. 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L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 845-9742 Canadian Community New spapers Association TV AUCTION T United Way of Oakville H JAward fg f ( dn © (9ah>ille ^P h va P k FORBUSINESS EXCELLENCE BRONTE THE BUTTERFLY C fo M ffru J O N T A R I O OPINION S K t Suburban New spapers of America O tC iiL C h ildren's C hoir » mat i-" | oakville galleries | T h e O a k v i ll e . M ilto n a n d D is tr ic t REAL ESTATE BO ARD Editorials Northern vision Tomorrow night the public will again be in attendance at Town Hall look ing for reasons why a huge block of north Oakville shouldn't be opened up to development. The first such meetings last week to com A huge section o f north\ ment on the Official Plan amendment to open Oakville w ill be up the lands, were very emotional. developed over the But regardless of the best intentions, this next decade and section of Oakville will be developed and the only issue now is how best to accomplish this. beyond. The best we Thanks to the Ontario Municipal Board, few can hope is that i t 's m unicipalities have com plete control over how their land will develop. And even with done responsibly. public meetings, the Town of Oakville fully expects to find itself before the OMB and developers who don't like constraints put on them. But for the Town councillors, news that the Province, through its Ontario Reality Corporation, has decided to retain 300 acres of the 1,100 it owns in the area, is good news indeed. It's also good news for Oakvillians. There are simply too many variables to get a true picture of how this part of town will develop but concerns over traffic, associated pollution and social service stresses, are real and must be addressed. Over the next few years, thousands of people will move to the area and they have every right to expect the infrastructure will be in place to serve them. This means that all levels of government must work together to try and make this new northern community one that works for its residents and the town as a whole. Over this period, politicians will change, as will economic and other fac tors. That's why urban planning is anything but an exact science. We're lucky in Oakville that residents will keep everyone on their toes as the process evolves. Letters to the Editor The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be typed, signed and include the writer's address and phone number. Send to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 More questions than answers from meetings The N o rth lan d s p ro ject -- OPA 198 as it is now officially called, is a attempt of urban plan ning made by people with good intentions but no p ro fessio n al background. As a resident I am appalled by the w ay O a k v ille is gro w in g . Houses, houses, houses...there is no overall planning. The develop ers seem to grab bits of land like hyenas in a feeding frenzy. They seem concerned with only their short term profit. C row ding as much they can get away with by the town (so called) planning. I am a retired architect and I know that to design a well struc tured, self sustainable new "Little Oakville" takes months of work. It a c tu a lly ta k e s y ea rs in University plus a master degree in urban planning. Who are the town planners? A re they architects? Urban designers? And if so...why aren't thinking of how much land they have to be developed, how m uch people they want to live th e re , how m uch green (n o t paved) spaces must be left, how many schools, traffic, etc, how much of untouched forest should be left... there are so many ques tions not answered that I am start ing to believe that the town hasn't hired a professional to design the new development as one whole concept. A lso w ho is w ritin g the Northlands project-OPA 198? Is there a lawyer working with the town to make sure that they can't be sued if they don't approve it? Or are the councillors themselves, alread y acting as d o cto rs and architects going to pretend they are lawyers as well??? On the p e stic id e issu e the mayor and most of the council lors didn't listen to the doctors' health reports, to develop land they d o n 't listen to the a rc h i tects...I w onder w hat is next., brain surgery... Letter of the Week School staff, students flounder without resources As we enter July, families' thoughts turn to summer camps, cottages, holidays and family outings. Forgotten, for a few weeks at least, are the school bells, tests, reports, and other trappings of a school year. We need, how ever, to ask that you spend a few moments on an important school issue. This year, the government allocated money to each school to purchase new textbooks for the new grade 11 courses in mathe matics, science and English. For those courses for which texts have been written, we are approximately $5,000 short. The new College Science course has no text nor does the new Workplace Mathematics course. There has been NO money allocated for resources for any of the new Geography, History, Business, Arts, or Technology courses. From w hence would you have us take the money to support these courses appropriately? We've also been informed of further cuts to the com plement of Instructional Assistants in our schools. These people provide invaluable assistance to students with needs beyond the average. Many graduates have these Assistants to thank for their diplomas, their skill devel opment and the growth of-their self-confidence. Many students will struggle to meet with success without the help of these caring educators. For 10 months of the year we think of your children as also being "our kids". It is at this time of the year that we know so well that they aren't ours; but they are yours, Oakville. We need all your calls and your letters to your MPP to help protect the education of your chil dren. Please take a few moments to make a call or write a letter. Your schools need your help. W hy Oakville residents should thank Mel Lastman Re: Toronto is Olympic bid In the National Post article of June 22, Toss the O lym pic B id in a Pot o f B oiling Water, Terence Corcoran correctly criticizes the lack of disclosure and the potential that Toronto's hosting the 2008 games could result in a $12+ billion publicly-financed black hole. In spite of Provincial and Federal involvement, the 2008 Games would probably be underwritten largely from Toronto-area GTA residents' pockets. The result would be a massive economic hangover, looming over the Toronto area. The economic impact would resemble the conditions after the largely pub licly financed Montreal Olympics, widely recognized as severely crowding-out municipal and provincial funds for decades afterwards. Mel Lastman's recent blunder was just what Toronto ratepayers needed. There are other recent Olympic finance models, including: Los Angeles - largely private sector-financed under entrepreneur Peter Ueberrath, LA city council passed a resolution saying no municipal funds (not only no debts, but also no funds) could be spent on the games. The games were a success for the host-city and the country and reported an operating and capital surplus. Sydney - a mixed private and public financing model in which the New South Wales government paid for two-thirds of the $2.3 billion (A) budget, pri m arily by building all stadium s and com petition venues from scratch. But even with the mixed financ ing model, the post-Olympic hangover is lingering and under-used event stadiums abound. The selection of the 2008 games host city will occur at the IOC meeting in Moscow in July. Unless Toronto area, including Oakville, ratepayers have input into: - the proposed budget, particularly the need for new or modified competition venues, the burden of finance; public, private or a combination thereof, and a frank economic analysis of the benefits to the GTA; apart from the vague 'additional economic benefits' touted by an international accounting firm as A$6.5 billion over six years to Australia, then, Toronto should withdraw its application immediately. In addition, Canada cannot realistically develop its amateur athletics program into a 50+ medal-winning contingent for the 2008 games. That alone should be a reason to withdraw and re-apply, with reasoned input into resource allocation, in the next decade. Christopher Evans Tania Orton Not enough thought, time or money spent on planning for north Re: North Oakville development plans People come from all over the GTA and from further afield to walk along the lakefront of Oakville, stroll through downtown, and dine in restaurants along Lakeshore Road. This area exists only because of strong by-laws protecting the neighbourhood, and managing and limiting how development occurs. Why not attempt to develop a "world class" type of atmosphere, character, and environment in North Oakville, with the development of an extensive Natural Heritage System? A public fundraising cam paign would allow the town to purchase parcels of land from individual owners, as well as from the Ontario Land Corporation. This would be a great attraction for people to come to the area, as well as for citizens living here. Why are we just throwing up our hands and letting the area turn into an en dless series of subdivisions? Traffic and roads and the town as a whole,will become even more congested. Our air quality is already terrible, and the increased traffic and gridlock from the projected increase in population of 50,000 people, along with the loss of trees and vegetation, will make it even worse. Water quality will deteriorate even more as the creeks which originate and flow through the north lands down to Lake O ntario are impacted by development. We are surely going to have more people liv ing in Oakville, and of course not every neigh bourhood is going to look like Olde Oakville by the lake. However, the extensive development of land north of highway 5 will have a signifi cant negative impact on the quality of the air, water, and land, as well as the overall quality of life, in Oakville. On the other hand, the estab lishment of a Natural Heritage System through out these lands w ould w ould d istin g u ish Oakville from the non-descript urban sprawl that now characterizes much of the GTA, and provide num erous o th e r b enefits to the town. Aside from efforts by the Oakvillegreen conservation group, I don't think enough time, effort, thought or money is being put into this aspect of the Town's plans, and I am therefore opposed to them. White Oaks Secondary School Staff Security video taping disturbing Pud by rW H A TA R EY o u lW A m N 6 fo R ? ^ T O SH O W , J F orY ou us H O W / On June 23rd, my family and I attended the Oakville Waterfront Festival as we have for the past few years. First, let me say that the festival is a first-rate event and well worth the $8 for the entire weekend - keep up the good work. The security from HARP was there and although I appre ciate the necessity for crowd control and safety, I believe a line was crossed that was very disturbing to me and my family....the use of video surveillance. While working our way to the main gate entrance from the bus stop, I noticed a HARP employee in uniform video David deBelle taping the people entering the gate. While my family spent time in the children's play area, I con tinued to watch this gentleman and he was moving about to certain areas moni the crowd with his camera. I walked past the HARP Steve Nease toring security trailer and they were monitoring the crowd in front of the bandshell. My family's only brush with the law is a parking ticket and one parking violation. The Waterfront Festival is an event to be enjoyed by all members of our community. The only problems I have ever seen over the years were the beer garden, when a few too many pints were consumed and caused some erratic behaviour or a few kids had been urged to leave the park after the fireworks. I see no reason for this over-reaction from a security firm. I personally felt very uneasy about being video taped and felt my privacy had been invaded. This is a festival, not a demonstration or a meeting of the G7. I never write letters complaining. My family and I enjoy a good quality of life in Oakville and I feel very uncomfort able about writing this one. Anonymous