Unfortunately Doug Tarry and St. Thomas Council Did Not Listen to Us

To everyone who signed our petition, thank you.

While this isn't the update we were hoping to share, we want to sincerely thank every resident who signed, shared our petition, attended meetings, and spoke up in an effort to protect our neighbourhood.

Unfortunately, our voices were not enough. Despite the overwhelming concerns raised by residents, Doug Tarry chose not to make any meaningful changes to the proposal. We were encouraged that a couple of councillors recognized our concerns and supported an alternative plan, but they were outvoted.

In the end, Mayor Preston and the majority of St. Thomas Council chose to approve the development rather than support the wishes of many of the residents they were elected to represent.

There will be no changes to the plan to construct a five-storey apartment building in the middle of an established neighbourhood made up primarily of detached family homes. We believe this decision ignores the character of the community and sets a disappointing precedent for future development in St. Thomas.

Although we lost this fight, we hope this serves as a reminder that residents must continue to stay informed, attend council meetings, and hold elected officials accountable for the decisions they make on our behalf.

Thank you again to everyone who stood with us. We may not have achieved the outcome we wanted, but together we showed that our community cares deeply about how St. Thomas grows.  Below was the included "money reminder" sent from Doug Tarry to St Thomas council.