Editor,
Further to the staff-written article “Georgian Bay Racquets Initiative Discusses Indoor Tennis Proposal with Town of The Blue Mountains,” which appeared online on April 28, 2025:
I was struck by the omission of the interview subject’s name and surprised you would devote space to an unidentified individual in this manner. Did the interview subject insist on anonymity?
The demands/expectations of the Georgian Bay Racquets Initiative are causing quite a stir in the Town of The Blue Mountains. Without even a rough business plan, this self-appointed “grassroots movement—just a group of volunteers” has convinced Town Council to undertake a search for publicly-owned lands that could be used to house the year-round courts they claim are needed.
The group began its public dialogue with the Town Council by suggesting that two courts which sit in a quiet neighbourhood and had been used for years by the Cameron Shores Tennis Club should be home to its ill-defined vision.
But perhaps most galling are the efforts of the Georgian Bay Racquets Initiative to influence the outcome of a public survey undertaken by the Town to determine future use of the Cameron Shores Tennis Club land.
An unknown number of letters signed by the fellow promoting the scheme to The Town of The Blue Mountains Council was distributed, encouraging people to answer the survey’s questions in a manner that supported the group’s ask.
Things were further complicated by the actions of Hotspex, a Toronto-based firm that flooded local social media with links to the Town survey. This effort allowed individuals to complete the survey multiple times – further jeopardizing the results.
The upshot? The $10,000 in taxpayer funds invested in the survey have been wasted.
There is no denying the interest in sports of all kinds in the South Georgian Bay area. But no single municipality can afford to foot the bill. It’s unfortunate that The Town of The Blue Mountains council doesn’t realize this, and simply say “no” to such outlandish requests.
The Georgian Bay Racquets Initiative should be focusing its lobbying efforts at the county or provincial level. And, when dealing with the media it should do so with a real person, not an unnamed “spokesperson.”
John Milne, Thornbury
Editor’s Note: No anonymity was requested, it was a simple question and answer with, as stated in the article, the founder of the initiative (Kev Rostami). The focus was on the initiative and the proposals, not the community members driving the initiative. An oversight on my part, many apologies.
