The Guelph Civic League is challenging the Mayor and City to reopen the dialogue regarding the proposed Hanlon Creek Business Park development. The City attended a Guelph Civic League facilitated session with concerned community groups on March 26 yet there has been very little dialogue since.
So much for the Guelph Civic League being… as one person who wrote to me put it… “the Farbridge Party“. Kudos to them for taking a stand.
Guelph Needs Openness, Respect
Guelph Mercury, September 22, 2009
Letter from Annie O’Donoghue, President, Guelph Civic League, on behalf of the league’s executive committee
Many citizens contacted the Guelph Civic League this summer to express concerns regarding the city’s handling of two development projects: the Guelph Youth Music Centre parking lot upgrade and the Hanlon Creek Business Park. We realize the two are very different in scope and complexity, but hope to draw your attention to the engagement practices as they relate to the concerns and subsequent outcomes.
We commend Coun. Ian Findlay for his leadership related to the youth music centre. As the ward representative, he intervened once citizens raised the alarm about an absence of real public process. Findlay listened, then supported both local and city-wide input to reduce the environmental impact of the project. We also commend the city staff and Farbridge for publicly acknowledging that a mistake had been made with respect to the process.
Finally, we applaud the swift response in bringing staff and community stakeholders together to share information and develop solutions. We hope this can serve as a successful model for future developments.
The Hanlon Creek Business Park process has not been as smooth. Despite the original public engagement and Ontario Municipal Board processes, community concerns began coming to our attention in late 2008 and have steadily increased. There seems to be significant frustration among various stakeholders surrounding this project exacerbated by recent acts of alleged “intimidation,” vandalism, civil disobedience and property damage. Most recently, citizens have expressed concerns relating to the nature of the city’s responses and the tone of city communications. There appears to be a general lack of clarity regarding the obstacles or avenues for change available, once a development has been passed by council, tendered and awarded.
We at Guelph Civic League believe:
•The Hanlon Creek Business Park has the potential to strengthen our economy and increase job opportunities while protecting the environment,
•Maintaining respectful community dialogue is especially important when contentious issues prevail,
•There should be zero tolerance for verbal abuse, intimidation, vandalism or property damage of any kind,
•Multi-stakeholder collaboration should be solution-focused and open to compromise,
•Civic leaders should clearly account for the city’s capacity to address concerns within the constructs available and
•As a community we share a responsibility to strike a balance between a strong environment and a strong economy.
We appreciate the efforts of city staff and council, respect the parameters of democratic process and applaud our local environmental groups for their ongoing stewardship and advocacy. We believe, given the nature of ongoing concerns, the extent of misunderstanding and a growing sense of distrust and frustration by all parties, further action is required before the Hanlon Creek Business Park work recommences in the spring.
We would like to invite Farbridge to re-engage the community within a collaborative process that addresses any legitimate citizen concerns and reinstates community cohesion. This is not about going over old ground but rather moving forward — seeking solutions where possible and developing better clarity, accountability and understanding around process and decisions.
The Guelph Civic League would be happy to convene a small meeting (between the league’s executive, Farbridge and council representatives) at 10 Carden St. to explore this and/or any thoughts you may have regarding next steps.
If all parties remain committed to a spirit of openness, compromise and mutual respect, we can achieve the same success for the Hanlon Creek Business Park as was demonstrated by the Guelph Youth Music Centre stakeholders. We are counting on the mayor’s leadership to make a difference.
Annie O’Donoghue, president, Guelph Civic League, on behalf of the league’s executive committee
For more on this issue, catch Royal City Rag, Saturdays 7-9 a.m. on CFRU 93.3fm.
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Hanlon Creek Business Park, The Elephant In the Living Room Is Green
Posted in Commentary, tagged Bob Gordon, Council of Canadians, Guelph Civic League, Guelph Greens, Hanlon Creek Business Park, Karen Farbridge, Sierra Club Canada on September 24, 2009| 2 Comments »
Bob Gordon
The Elephant In The Living Room Is Green
Bob Gordon, Freelance Journalist/Royal City Rag Contributor
In the wake of the occupation of the land slated to become the Hanlon Creek Businesss Park (HCBP) and the ensuing injunction hearings I contacted a variety of Guelph civic and environmental organizations.
I did not contact the organization known as LIMITS nor did I speak to the occupants themselves. In both cases, their positions seemed self-evident. They want the construction of the business park to be permanently deep-sixed.
I did however contact local Sierra Club representative Judy Martin, the Guelph Chapter of the Council of Canadians (CoC-Guelph) and the Guelph Civic League (GCL). Co-Chair Norah Chaloner (with Dave Sills) responded for the CoC-Guelph as did President Annie O’Donoghue on behalf of the GCL.
None of these organizations expressed support for the occupation.
However Norah Chaloner noted that “the action taken by these young people lead to the revelation of information that was not being made available to the public…. the two letters from MNR to the city, dated May 25 and July 31, strongly advising against continued development.” Judy Martin concurred, “We believe the protesters brought attention to an important matter.”
Chaloner and Martin were also united in the view that both the Minister of Natural Resources, Donna Cansfield and Mayor Karen Farbridge should accept the conclusions of the MNR’s Guelph District office and stop work until appropriate investigation of the Jefferson Salamnder issue could be conducted.
Looking to the future, on August 17, Annie O’Donoghue stated, “GCL’s position is to urge the city to bring all community stakeholders together to seek a collaborative solution to the issues surrounding HCBP.” The GCL has continued to take this approach.
On September 22, the Guelph Mercury published an open letter from the GCL to the mayor that continues to espouse this consultative approach. “We would like to invite Farbridge to re-engage the community within a collaborative process that addresses any legitimate citizen concerns and reinstates community cohesion.”
The bottom-line is five community organizations have significant concerns with the situation as it now stands and the plans for the HCBP in there present form.
Even a group such as the GCL that believes “the Hanlon Creek Business Park has the potential to strengthen our economy and increase job opportunities while protecting the environment” has concerns.
The mayor firmly rejected any further dialogue.
The real story here is the ‘silence of the Greens.’
Repeatedly, throughout August, I contacted various members of the Green Party requesting information or answers. They simply refused to reply or respond.
Speaking in Guelph on September 10, Federal Green Party leader Elizabeth May declined to comment on the HCBP issue specifically, “Yes, it’s important to protect moraine, wetlands and old growth forest. On the other hand, this is an issue I think I’ll defer to the local Greens.”
Subsequently, I informed the leader’s executive assistant, Debra Eindiguer that it seemed unusual to defer to a group that refused to comment.
She assured me that a statement from the local Greens would be forthcoming early in the week of September 21-25.
By e-mail I received a response from Guelph Greens’ CEO Tara Treanor that speaks for itself: “How odd. I can’t imagine why Debra would say such a thing – unless she has been in touch with someone other than me (I’m supposed to be the head honcho as much as the Greens have a hierarchy – which isn’t really at all, at least not locally).”
“In any case, we are not in a position to “issue a statement”, not least because it would be about 40 pages long so hardly a statement! I’m sorry to say that Debra was wrong.”
There is an elephant in the living room folks. It is Green. It is confused… and it is very long-winded.
Bob Gordon
bob34g@gmail.com
For more on this and other community issues, tune into Royal City Rag, Saturdays 7-9 a.m. on CFRU 93.3fm.
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