Retain local control
Dear Editor:
I attended the public forum hosted by Centre Wellington Mayor Shawn Watters on Oct. 6. Many topics were discussed in detail. It appears there will be paid parking for tourists coming to Elora but the town’s people will park for free, which is good, as tourism will be charged which helps to pay for services.
One of the big points of contention was the amount of growth that is happening in Centre Wellington. From what I understand, if Centre Wellington refused to expand, Doug Ford then sends in a crew to tell Centre Wellington where they will expand, and that includes land and properties that have already been protected by our current councillors.
So in simple terms, agricultural land could simply be confiscated, developed and taken away with no input from our local people, no input from our elected officials. Already developers are appealing decisions that our council made to protect land here in Centre Wellington.
The moral of this whole story is if we don’t expand and try to let council and county council pick the areas of expansion then, because we didn’t comply, the province (Doug Ford) swoops in and makes all of the decisions where homes will be built and with the developers that they pick.
I’m thinking none of us here want that! Elora and Fergus are at least better off picking the areas of expansion than having the areas dictated by the province.
So it’s important our council remains as in control of the areas for development as they can.
Brenda Chamberlain,
Elora
Not a good safety era
Dear Editor:
RE: “Unreasonable change,” Oct. 9.
Really? Do we really want to return to the era of 60 years ago, as advocated by Chris Woode?
That was the time when I was in the primary school grades walking to school unescorted, crossing a busy provincially designated highway in a southern Ontario town, without crosswalks, without crossing guards, without flashing crosswalk lights, and without school zone speed limits.
That era 60 years ago was when all cars didn’t have four-wheel disc brakes, let alone ABS braking systems with collision avoidance.
It was the era when vehicles were not equipped with air bags and were legally operated by drivers not wearing seat belts.
I always have difficulty relating to my beloved fellow senior citizens who, despite acknowledging huge advancements in technology, still believe our driving limits and legal code should not change from decades long past.
My ardent hope is that Woode continues to drive the speed limit while keeping in the right lane, except of course to pass slower vehicles.
David Fast,
Ariss