Read the signs
Every indicator of the County housing market is flashing red. Few new homes are rising out of the ground— none at all in Picton, Bloomfield or Wellington. Shire Hall is on track for its worst year of new homebuilding since the aftermath of the global financial crisis nearly two decades ago. Meanwhile, new listings are […]
It’s time
It is very near the speak-now-or-forever-hold- your-peace moment in local politics. In just a little over two weeks, the window to step up and challenge for a seat around the council table will close. Council needs fresh new voices. It needs talented folks to decide that the cash-burning trajectory of local government can change. That […]
So, build already
The Quinte Home Builder’s Association (QHBA) is sending a procession of emissaries to County council, urging quick approval of expensive waterworks infrastructure plans. Several QHBA members, each armed with a prepared script, have come to Council in recent weeks, essentially making the same pitch: Growth is coming, the County’s engineering department prefers a regional water […]
Mississauga-fication
The changes Kaitlin wants to make to its plans in Wellington are so big that they require alterations to the County’s Official Plan. They are so broad and sweeping as to require a brand new zoning category for this community—Gateway Mixed-Use. It is a flashing red light. Where once developers paid lip service to the […]
Stories we tell ourselves
Are 11,000 new homes about to burst out of Prince Edward County soil? Are thousands of new homes ready to emerge clustered around Picton and Wellington? Remember when Shire Hall was ready to spend upwards of $300 million to ensure these folks had water when/if they arrived? Few believe this story any longer. Most never […]
Preferred water source
Is Picton Bay water safe? Those promoting a regional water plan (drawing water from Lake Ontario in Wellington and pumping it 20 kilometres to Picton) point to the vulnerability of the pipes that stretch 91 and 305 metres into Picton Bay, pulling water into the treatment plant. The water is too shallow, the Bay too […]
Making do
Beware of arguments that aren’t bolted down. Arguments that get tossed to the curb when circumstances or time render them silly. Only to be replaced by equally wobbly notions. It is an omen that we have entered the religious phase of the waterworks debate. We are required to summon faith rather than apply reason. When […]
Empty words
Six hundred residents filled the hall at the Wellington community centre in August 2024. Most had come out to urge Council to pause plans to vastly expand waterworks infrastructure in the village and beyond to Picton. “Population growth was vastly overstated,” they said. “The municipality had no experience managing a project to this scale.” “All […]
Misplaced priorities
It’s an odd look when politicians appear unaware they are in the business of politics. County council—made up entirely of elected politicians—spent time last week, eyes wide and unblinking, trying to award themselves a 38 per cent pay hike. A few days later, they listened to a consultant explain that Shire Hall can’t afford what […]
What’s at stake
It is the last week for good people to raise their hands if they wish to see change at Shire Hall. At 2 p.m. Friday, the window to nominate a candidate for County council will close. As of Tuesday, the incumbents in five of nine wards were set to be acclaimed— elected without facing an […]