Letter to the Editor
Editor,
We recently attended a meeting to review plans for the future of Memorial Park.
The public was invited to comment on the four plans which were presented.
The Moore family gifted this beautiful piece of property to the Town of Meaford as a ‘Park’ for the use of the community.
Sadly, this has become a ‘Parking Lot’ for increasingly larger monster RVs and the infrastructure they require – ablution blocks, washrooms, pavilions, and retaining walls to protect them from the lake. The citizens of Meaford have been squeezed into an increasingly smaller footprint with large portions of the waterfront filled with RVs.
In the plans, the proposal for the west site is to remove lakefront spots and move them back, as the breakwall which protects the vehicles from the lake is failing. The long view is to bring in rocks to this area instead of more repairs to the break wall. This would provide 13 ‘Premium Sites’ for a select few. No public wanted!
The plans also add additional sites with washrooms, parking, cottages, etc. (See the plans on Meaford’s website).
Apparently the services required by the campers need to be updated and serious work will have to be done to the breakwall which is going to cost thousands of dollars to either replace, repair, or move in rocks (currently it is undergoing a $30,000 repair).
Our comments:
1. Remove all camping from the waterfront. Let the lake do its thing and let the waterfront revert back. Naturalize the space and open it up for the community’s use and enjoyment. As a greenspace and beach no services (other than washrooms which exist) will be required.
2. No more buildings, parking lots, trees cut down or camp sites.
3. It was mentioned that removal of these sites would result in lost revenue. This ‘Park’ was not intended as a revenue stream for the Town. It should pay for itself and would be nice if it generated more but not to the detriment of the community.
Eliminating these sites would greatly enhance the enjoyment of the people of Meaford. The savings derived by not needing to fix breakwalls and improving camp infrastructure should make up for lost revenue. If not the rates for the remaining spots should be increased.
Comments were made that we would lose campers – don’t think so! There are lots of them and ‘they will come’.
Let’s maintain this beautiful area as a green space for future generations to enjoy, not a concrete jungle and parking lot for RVs.
Maureen & Terry Scott, Meaford
