PAGE 10, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1980, WHITBY FREE PRESS Report from1 The new planning act is needed Am-ý & «IVlak«0 I Queen'1s Park By GORGE \SIII MPPl iP-IURH,1\ WEST) i Ontario's Planning Act became law in 1946, and although it has been amended many times, the basic elements of the legislation remain largely the same as they were over thirty years ago. At that time, Ontario was experiencing a period of rapid growtli following World War II, and it was felt some type As a convenience to our customers, starting March 3rd., we will be OPEN MONDA YS FROM 9am - 5pm. MONDAYS ONLY PERMS /2 PRICE LA CONTESSA BEAUTY LOUNGE 116 Green Street 668-9262 '-'4. rew Q 4i" 5 YeaImr Registered Guanated iwvestment certif icate pays * Please send me f "'Z the Investors RRSP /~r.- Answer Machine today' --- I~1L Ut MName: 7 plus a Tax Deduction as v And to help yoii determine what it means in 5, years, theres Investors RRSP Answer Machin( coupon today or cati: 579-8508 Subject to change without notice. "oi 10 or 15 e. Send Address: City: - _____________Province: ________ Age: -Occupation: Phone No: 354 Regal Briar St., Whitby Phione: 579-8508 sibilities. The main thrust of the proposed changes is to give municipalities a strong voice in decisions affecting local plan- ning matters. It is aniticipated the new Planning Act will refine the role and interests of the province in land planning, SO that there will be no interference in municipal planning matters, unless it is necessary to protect the overaîl provincial interests. 0f course, therein lies the controversy. There is a con- siderable difference of opinion on what issues are of "overal provincial interest", and the minister of housing is actively seeking comments from ail concerned on this particular aspect, as well as others. The Ontario Government is encouraging open public debate on the proposed revisions to The Planning Act, and hopefully you will hear a great deal about the new Planning Act in the months ahead. Before proceeding to legislation, we want to air ail possible questions about the tasks which plan- ning will need to undertake in the 80s, and the kinds of strategies and institutional mechanisms that will be required to fulfili these tasks. As planning is a fairly complex, teclinical subject, I will be drawing upon my past experiences as an elected municipal representative to disect the issues, and offer positive con- tributions on behaîf of my Durham West constituents. of stringent orderly provincial control was needed. Today, the deniand for housing and industrial development is greater than in 1946, and The Planning Actlias the added responsiblilîty of protecting our heritage, the environment and to ensure valuable resources, such as agricultural land, are preserved. As well, Ontario's municipalities have matured and developed, and many are now very capable of managing their own planning interests. As a resuit, several years ago the Governmnent of Ontario initiated a major review of The Planning Act and related planning procedures. This review, called the Comay Report, was completed in 1977, and was followed by a White Paper on Planning issued by the government in 1979. A White Paper is usually considered as a statement of goverrnent policy on a particular issue. Since 1979, the minister of housing lias been receiving comments on the White Paper (statement of policy) from individuals, municipalities and interested groups. broadly defined, "planning" is the system by which municipalities control the way in which land is used and development takes place. by its very nature, planning deals with many large, and sometimes uncomfortable issues... .but it is necessary that these be thoroughly faced and discussed. Planning affects the lifestyle 0f every person in the province. It can dictate both social and economic development; promote or hinder energy conservation; encourage or discourage in- dustrial development; and provide or deny a relaxed, healthy residential atmosphere. Good planning requires the cooperation of municipal, regional and provincial governmen- With the proposed legisiation, it is the intent of the Gover- nment of Ontario to place more empliasis on provincial advice and assistance to municipalities, and less on the strict regulation practices of the past. We want to streamline the planning process in Ontario, by cutting red tape, and by per- mitting those municipal councils and staffs, who are capable of greater automony, to handle increased planning respon- DENTURE THERAPY CLINIC_ 111 DUNDAS STREET WEST WHITBY 668-1464 No director for SA C, DeVeau says A full time director for the Whitby Senior Citizen's Ac- tivity Centre will not be hired to replace former director Kay Byk according to Whitby director of recreation Wayne DeVeau. byk's sudden departure from the centre last October has neyer been publicly ex- plained and neither she nor DeVeau have said whether she was f ired or whethershe resigned. Since Byk's departure, her duties have been handled by Audry Pankrayz, a part- time employee and a com- mittee composed of centre members. DeVeau lias announced that he will hire another part-time person to work in the centre. both Pankratz and the new worker wil work 24 hours a week which DeVeau said will be an improvement over the 34 hours -a week that a fuil-time director would be on the job. the director's job is to co- ordinate the activities of the Brock Street South facility and its over 5M0 members for whom the centre is the focus of their social life. Among its features are a meeting room, a crafts cen- tre and a games roorn. The games room includes a pool table, dart boards and shuffleboard and card tables for such activities as euchre and bridge. The centre has been open since March 1976 and serves as a meeting place for the town's more than 2,000 senior citizens. The centre's director ser- ved in an advisory role with the members themselves running the centre, a con- cept which lias provided responsibility for many people that they may have missed in retirement. Many of the members live in senior citizen's apartment building run by the Durhamn Area Housing Authority, a department of the Ontario miistry of housing. 1980 LACAC head named Eugene Henry- Port Whitby resident and business consultant was elected chairman of the Local Architectural Conser vation Advisory Committee (LACAC) for 1980, at the last meeting of the conservation group on February 20. Since bis return to Whitby in 1977 Henry lias been ac- tive in heritage conser- vations affairs throughout the community and in recent months lielias been a regular contributor to Free Press writing coluxnns on historical subjects. He follows Brian Winter who resigned from the chairman's post at the 1979 year end. Position will remain unfilled ILYa 4 d@pý m- - -- noupp, 4,%- - op i