Council, heal thyself
It is time—time to fix the mistake made 24 years ago. It’s time to establish a proper council structure, pay them appropriately and give them the resources to do the job. There is an opportunity here and over the next few of months to make a transformative and lasting change to our municipal government. It […]
Can we talk?
Too much. Way too soon. The County wants to rewrite Wellington’s Secondary Plan in the next nine weeks. That’s wildly ambitious. But that’s not all; it also wants to overlay a Heritage Conservation District Plan (HCD)—a sweeping array of new rules, guidelines, appeal mechanisms and such—on the village in the same nine weeks. Even if […]
Water access
Unless you watched to the very end of the hour-and-half-long Committee of Council meeting, you would have missed a key bit of news last week. Wellington is getting a new boat launch. Good news for boaters, fishers, and beachgoers. Better yet, it sets up a range of fresh opportunities for Wellington Rotary beach. A group […]
Allies
It’s not a fair fight. Residential builders will make many millions selling homes in Wellington. They will play rough. They are keenly motivated to maximize their return. They are experienced at working municipal rules in their favour. They will dedicate resources to find the shortest path to profitability and to widen margins. It is what […]
Bystanders
Billboards have sprouted on Consecon Street and Belleville Road, proclaiming the coming Cork and Vine housing development across the top of Wellington. One thousand, three hundred and seventy-one new homes. One developer. It is not the story we were told. It’s not what we agreed to. Once there were four developers competing to build out […]
Unintended consequences
It’s a good village. Walkable. Hugging a Great Lake that stretches to the horizon. Majestic tree-lined streets. Most of the goods and services one needs in life. The Millennium Trail. The Dukes. A spacious and welcoming waterside park. Beach and boardwalk. A dock offering access to two lakes. A noble library. A great many terrific […]
Data in the waste
The holiday weekend is behind us—the first in a couple of years in which we weren’t constrained by government restrictions aimed at reducing the spread of Covid-19. While some worry long-delayed family gatherings could produce another spike, others suggest the wake of fractured families and relationships risks another type of slow-burning toll on our well-being. […]
Secure the knowledge
Correction: The print version of this story said the DMO Interim board terminated the County’s tourism marketing staff. They did not. Sorry. Hints of spring are colouring a landscape grayed by the residue of winter. Fragile shoots poke out of dirt frozen and snow-covered just weeks ago. And the light of a longer day ushers […]
Perhaps again
Last week the Hospital Foundation recognized Leo Finnegan’s tireless advocacy of the Picton hospital. Many readers will remember his unrelenting defence of the capacity and purpose of our community hospital. He rallied the community, filling community halls and buses, taking the fight to save Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital to Queen’s Park. Finnegan wielded Alan […]
Normal
Life feels as though it is getting back to normal. (As I read these words back, I brace for admonishment—both the superstitious variety and the epidemiologically grounded.) I will admit to wandering the grocery store recently for several moments before realizing I hadn’t brought a mask. Not intentionally, just the forgetfulness that dulls the synapse […]