Report of meeting with Councillor Morley and TRCA... and another milestone is near
Hi All,
Another milestone is near - the 1,000 signature level. Thank you all for the support.
I'm writing to update you all about my efforts to date to take this petition's message to the TRCA and to Councillor Morley, and to discuss next steps.
Just after my last update here (Sept 25) I reached out again to the Councillor's office to request a meeting with her to discuss our concerns, and her team set up a virtual meeting on Wednesday Oct 2, with the Councillor, another member of her team, and two representatives from the TRCA who are on the shoreline project.
Prior to the meeting, we sent each other briefing notes that outlined our positions and arguments, so that in the meeting itself, we were all pretty much up to speed there, and the bulk of the meeting was spent discussing the various points in detail.
I went into the meeting with two main goals:
- To advocate for the petition's ask: a public opportunity to review the choice of construction access route, the factors that influenced it, and to find ways to seriously reconsider the most efficient and least impactful routes, while also satisfying all safety and similar concerns that have been raised.
- To show that the (ab)use of the tree-lined paved trail west of Thirteenth St, the substantial threat it poses to mature trees from three-plus years of construction traffic, and the loss of use of a popular part of the park, are not justifiable.
And how did it go, you ask. Well... it was clear from their pre-meeting brief that the TRCA remains committed to the proposed access route, and has no intention (yet) of reviewing or reconsidering this decision, despite the opposition expressed in our petition, the many serious arguments that have been made against the proposed route, and the virtues of other route options.
Regarding the tree-lined path, the TRCA still claim that a single thin layer of paving will be sufficient root protection against three-plus years of construction traffic. They still maintain that it will be OK to let heavy trucks encroach, several thousand times, into the normally-mandated tree protection zones of most of these mature trees. Of course, I disagree. And, even this far into the discussion, there still seems to be almost no acknowledgement from the TRCA of their primary clients – park users! – and of the value of being able to access and enjoy as much of the park as possible over the long duration of this shoreline project.
Still, the meeting was a good opportunity to expand on the arguments we've been making. My thanks to Deputy Mayor / Councillor Amber Morley for providing the opportunity and for running the meeting in a positive and even-handed manner. The meeting was allowed to run well past its allotted 30 minutes.
The meeting ended with a little forward motion. The TRCA representatives announced that they would provide some documentation of the due diligence they put into their choice of route. Many of us have been asking for such details since early August. Better late than never, I guess. No timeline has been provided for the release of this documentation. The implied plan is that we would have more discussions based on these documents, once they become available.
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Councillor Morley is hosting her 2024 Fall Fest next Saturday Oct 19, at Fairfield Park, which is just east of Islington and approximately half a kilometer south of Bloor. The event starts at noon, and you can find out more about it on the Councillor's website: https://www.ambermorley.com/fall-fest-2024
The Councillor's office has told me that representatives from the TRCA will be available at this event. If you're able to attend the Fall Fest, this would be a good opportunity to ask questions about the shoreline construction project, and to share your concerns about the proposed construction access route.
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I've set up a temporary email address for petition supporters. If you are local to the park area, and you have a question, want more information, or would like to help with the effort to make the petition's case to the City and the TRCA, please shoot me an email at cssp@isotope.ca. Please include your name and postal code. I can't guarantee a reply to every email, but I'll do my best. No emails received at this address will be shared with anyone else, and the address and all received emails will be deleted when the petition finally comes down.
Again, thank you all for showing your support. I'm more convinced than ever that what we are asking for is reasonable, and overdue.
Ken Nelson