Friday, February 14, 2025

Letters

Centreville Beach a Home For Memories

Editor, The beach at the bottom of Centreville is more that just a beach, it’s a home for memories. I remember when my grandparents first moved to their house on Centreville Road. I wasn’t entirely excited to leave the house that I had spent the first six years of my life making memories in. Leaving the old house also meant...

Thoughts on 2025 Draft Budget

Dear Editor, This is in response to your Nov. 7 budget coverage, in which you mention the sheer size and difficulty for the average person to understand this document. The cynics among us assume (usually correctly) that this practice is similar to the small print in a sales contract. If you can't understand it, it's harder to question it, and...

Reader Wants Public Access to Centreville Beach Preserved

Editor, In high school, when I was able to have my parents’ car for the day, I would often spend lunch at the Centreville Beach. Even if it was cold or wet or snowy, I could sit quietly and be calmed and energized by the view and the solitude, and return to GBHS renewed. When I had my daughter, I would...

Reader: Reservoir Could Swallow the Town

Dear Editor, There's been some discussion about the size of TC Energy's proposed reservoir. According to Rants Raves and Rumours, Oct. 24 (October 24 print edition), Deputy Mayor Shirley Keaveney, TC Energy's point person on council, described the reservoir as roughly 1.7 kilometres long and one kilometre wide. Still having trouble grasping that enormity? Well, it's big enough to absorb most...

What if Karma is Real?

Dear Editor, I have been thinking about all the unnecessary suffering we go through because of dishonesty. It may be something small to the thief, but if it causes pain to the owner of the stolen item it is not small. A lie may seem small but if it destroys a reputation, it is not unimportant. If an act of...

Hope For Resolution to Centreville Beach Issue

Editor, We are sending this letter on behalf of a large number of concerned residents of Meaford. The Beach is important to all of us who live within a few kilometers as a place to swim or to enjoy various water sports or passive pursuits. For decades, everyone in the community believed upon the representation that this publicly used beach,...

The Elephant In The District

Editor, A lot of people were disappointed with the Ontario Land Tribunal ruling on the Avrance Georgian Harbour Condominium proposal – a decision that raises serious questions. How could this monstrosity fit into our Heritage Conservation District? Isn’t that why a previous Council passed the Meaford Heritage Conservation District Plan? This building is a Canadian football field in length and four...

Hyperbole in Full Flight

Editor, This is the type of runaway, reckless hyperbole that developers freely toss around when casting a line for investors and future buyers. This developer wanted to build 160 condominium units between the Library and the Big Head River. The developer shows zero knowledge of Meaford in any way. Georgian Bay Harbour is a new condo community by AvranceCorp Development currently...

Reader Wonders How Road Repair Decisions Are Made

Editor, What a treat to cycle and drive down all the re-surfaced roads in Meaford this fall. From whole streets to patched areas, it's very impressive. One wonders just what are the criteria for choosing the streets to deserve attention... A residents' petition? Number of potholes: 5? 20? 50? Amount of deterioration at the sides? Crumbling areas – large/small? uneven...

Concern About Access to Centreville Beach

Dear Editor, A number of Meafordites have approached me expressing confusion about the Private Beach sign at the base of Centreville. I replied that virtually all Meafordites assumed it was a public beach which is used extensively by swimmers, kayakers, canoeists, and paddle boarders. I propose an eminently reasonable solution for this dilemma. There is a legal term called the Writ...