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Doer
Well before the County purchased the Prince Edward County Rail line as a Millennial year project, there were folks who dreamed about what it might become. Those who with breathless enthusiasm imagined the development of similar railway line trails like the Coeur d’Alene trail in Idaho or the Great Allegheny Passage in Pennsylvania as powerful recreation and tourist attractions.
Committees formed to explore ways to exploit the opportunity presented by the 49-kilometre path that bisects the County from Carrying Place to Picton. There was little money and too much to do. The paltry amount County council put up each year mostly went to mending neighbouring fences. Committees died.
Barry Davidson didn’t spend a lot of energy dreaming of what it might be—but rather what it could be. He quietly assessed the resources available and the many hurdles that would be thrown up in front of such an enterprise. Then he set to work pulling together a plan. Quietly. Slowly at first. He wouldn’t take on the entire 49 kilometres. Rather he would break the project into manageable pieces— and by doing so, perhaps, set an example of how the entirety might one day be accomplished. With the support of the Wellington Rotary Club he would build out from the village centre.
It turns out that when the rails were removed from the County line, there wasn’t much care or attention to the condition of the rail bed left behind. Some sections were passable by bicycle, others were not. Football-sized limestone rocks punctuate an unsteady base with which to traverse Lake Consecon, even on foot—one of the more interesting features of the trail.
Time and nature had also worked to close in much of the trail, as buckthorn and other greenery encroached the pathway that had once been carved and kept at bay by steam driven locomotives. Davidson, with the Rotary Club, enlisted volunteers and aggregate suppliers and heavy equipment operators in the challenge to create a level, clear and passable trail for the enjoyment of walkers, cyclists, snowmobile and ATV riders.
Today a long stretch of the trail from west of Slaven Crossroad to Danforth Road, east of Wellington is a veritable 10-kilometre long park, carved from the brambles and offered for the benefit of residents and visitors all year long. The Trail features rest stations, parking and washroom facilities. Waymarking ensures easy and clear access.
The model and method for the restoration of the entire length of the Millennium Trail has been laid out. Like a well-worn path.
The Vital Signs report produced by the County Community Foundation in 2013 pointed to the pervasive distress of food insecurity that existed in our community. It came as a surprise to many. It shook our sense of an egalitarian and prosperous rural community.
Davidson set to work, quietly, bringing together like-minded folk—again with help from the Wellington Rotary Club—to establish and build a community garden in Wellington. A similar project was underway in Picton, but the need here was far greater.
Now Davidson is turning his formidable talents to perhaps his biggest challenge. He is marshalling the energies, resources, creativity and goodwill that is so inspiringly resplendent in this community, to tackle the dearth of affordable housing in this area.
The problem is crystal clear. The causes are a bit murkier. Yet Davidson isn’t spending his energy pulling these apart or studying the problem. He is getting to work, piecing together the people and resources needed to get this project off the ground.
Last week, Davidson announced a collaboration with Mike Hymus and Anthony Lemke along with The United Church of Canada and Habitat for Humanity to establish a fund to be used to develop residential apartment projects at the top of Maple Street and the site of the former Dukedome. (See story Page 3).
There are many developers uniquely skilled in the business of extracting government benefits toward the development of affordable housing. Their interest is typically short term—and rarely aligned with the needs of the community.
Yet embarking on a project like this with folks untested in the development business, bears some risk. Two important factors mitigate this risk. One, as a community-based solution, inspired, conceived and implemented by folks who live here and care about this place, the odds are infinitely greater that the resulting homes and product will address both the practical need and the desire of this community that it fit in and integrates well with its surroundings.
The other is factor working heavily in this project’s favour is Davidson’s track record. He has achieved success in everything he has put his hand to, big and small, in this community.
Some neighbours grumble that green space near their homes in Wellington will soon give way to condominium apartments, yet the need for such turnkey housing options in this village is undeniable.
Davidson has a demonstrated capacity for spotting the need around him, and getting up each day and working toward it.
That is something we can all get behind.
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