A mistake worth making
The following open letter, to Caledon residents was submitted to the Citizen.

This past weekend The Enterprise published an article and editorial regarding the ongoing issue of growth facing our community and in particular, a controversial vote which took place at the Town Nov. 6.

As all residents should know, we are the councillors for the Bolton community and as such, we have a responsibility of ensuring that our community gets the

best representation at Caledon council. The evening of Nov. 6 was extremely important for all residents of Caledon, but even more important for the greater Bolton community.

As stated in The Enterprise we believe that the voting process which took place Nov. 6 was not done properly but more importantly, the outcome of such a vote did not represent the best outcome for the residents of Bolton, which we represent.

Being residents of Bolton for more than 12 years, we know first-hand how our quality of life has been negatively impacted by the rapid, poorly-planned growth experienced in the 1990s and how such growth was not accompanied by adequate infrastructure improvements and community services. The greater Bolton community is in need of a new fire hall, recreational facilities, road improvements and schools for our children. These needs are urgent and cannot be ignored any more by members of council!

On Nov. 6 council decided to not increase the currently planned population forecast of 108,000 persons by the year 2031, and we as councillors of the Bolton community are fine with not increasing our planned population forecast at this time.

After the controversial vote was taken, we both were not clear on various aspects of such a vote, since the motion passed by council was not properly circulated or communicated to us. One aspect of the vote that night which was not clear or understood by us and other members of council was the year 2021 and the effect this would have on the greater Bolton community.

It is our understanding that the vote taken Nov. 6 would essentially freeze the greater Bolton community from growth for the next 14 years. On the surface this might appear to be the proper approach for some residents, especially given the rapid growth experience of the 1990s.

However, such an approach will leave the greater Bolton community struggling well into the future and will definitely not provide the community with a proper plan to meet the

needs of our residents.

Should your mayor and members of council continue to support a development freeze for the greater Bolton community for the next 14 years, our community will go without a predetermined growth plan and more importantly, without much needed services, facilities and road improvements such as the BAR (bypass).

Yes, the growth of the 1990s did not bring such needed facilities or improvement and yes, one can ask why would more growth now assist us in meeting such needs?

The answer is simple. The growth of the 1990s was not properly planned or phased in and instead, due to the lack of leadership of Town officials, it was directed by the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), a provincial tribunal that has a strict mandate of enforcing the Planning Act. Sounds pretty serious but at the end of the day, the OMB does not understand or care about the true needs of the Bolton community and why should it? After all, we are your councillors who you elect to get things done!

Getting things done is what we as your local and regional councillors intend to do and part of the plan to get things done needs to include a pre determined but

moderate growth plan for the greater Bolton community. Something residents understand and can count on, similar to what the Mayfield West community is currently undertaking.

The mayor and some members of council would have you believe that if growth was to be permitted in the greater Bolton community, developers would pressure the Town through such avenues as the OMB to dump thousands of new people into the community.

These sorts of statements are simply not true and represent in our minds "fear mongering."

The Town in working together with all stakeholders involved can develop a pre-determined growth plan for the great Bolton community; a plan which includes phasing contracts with developers and most importantly, a plan that will provide existing residents with real, tangible services and facilities.

Currently, the Town is taking an approach that would leave the greater Bolton community without a pre-determined growth plan for the next 14 years. Should this approach continue to be supported by Town council, the greater Bolton community will continue to be faced with enormous growth pressures and eventually, the community will again be planned by the OMB.

This is simply unacceptable and as councillors for the Bolton community we cannot allow this to happen.

Therefore, The Enterprise may be correct in stating that we made a mistake in not understanding the vote Nov. 6, but we'd rather make the mistake of not understanding a confusing vote than not standing up for the Bolton community.

The greater Bolton community needs to be treated with the same regard as all other communities in Caledon and we are determined to make this happen before the year 2021.

Regional Councillor

Annette Groves Area Councillor

Jason Payne