Aldershot Heroes Named to Honour Roll

Three community leaders are about to be celebrated by the Aldershot Community Honour Roll. Karen Phelps, Dorothy Pocock and Bob O’Brien will be named to the Honour Roll at the 5th annual reception on the evening of Thursday, May 31st.
Karen Phelps has been the leader and inspiration behind the rejuvenation of the Warwick Surrey Community Association which works to improve this unique neighbourhood in Aldershot.

Dorothy Pocock is a strong environmental champion. She was a leader in the long and successful fight to prevent the expansion of the regional dump site in Aldershot in the 90s.
Bob O’Brien’s many accomplishments have included appointment to the Board of Governors of Catholic High Schools in Hamilton, membership on the Board of St. Joseph’s Hospital and election as a Trustee to the Halton Separate School Board.
Tickets for the reception at Bay Gardens can be obtained by calling 905-526-1501.

Official Opening of “City View” Park

Join us on Saturday, June 23rd at 11am for the fun and ceremony. The opening day will feature games and demonstrations of soccer, lacrosse and field hockey. The Burlington Youth Soccer Club and Bruce Trail Association will be involved. This new Tyandaga park already has a lot of amenities including two artificial soccer fields, a pond, parking lots, trails and playgrounds. In return for use of the soccer fields for practice rounds in 2015 PanAm is expected to help fund construction of the third artificial soccer field and 1,500 spectator seats.

The Widening of Waterdown Road
By a 4-3 vote a Committee of City Council has voted to proceed with the plan for the widening of Waterdown Road, which was first set in motion by the previous Council. Specifically the City has agreed to approve the Environmental Study which outlines the plan for the project. I voted against the widening as I have all along. Residents who are concerned will have 45 days from May 22nd to appeal the issue to the province.

Essentially the widening results from the need to address traffic from the urban growth in the former Village of Waterdown and was made necessary by an Ontario Cabinet order in 2002 requiring Burlington and Hamilton to come up with a traffic solution. As it stands now, the new road will be built around 2016. It will be paved as 4 lanes, but initially marked up as three lanes (one north, one south and one turning lane) until traffic volumes require the full four lanes sometime in the future. There will be a multi-use pathway on the west side of the new road and a sidewalk on the east side.

Burlington Official Plan
The City has formally launched its effort to update the Official Plan. This is the document that guides development in the City. We are required by the Province to update the Plan every five years. The process itself can take several years due to a variety of competing interests. Two public meetings have already taken place to gather public opinion. The title of the updating exercise is “We’re Growing in Place” reflecting the fact that the City has almost filled all of its open spaces. Future growth will primarily be in the form of in-fill and intensification along major routes and downtown. In Ward one there are several Official Plan issues to be discussed. Should the building height limit on Plains Road remain at 6 storeys or be reduced to 4? Should we continue to allow “drive-through” retail services on Plains Road? (The are not allowed downtown). What is the future of the Beach? And, how do we find the right balance between development and environment in North Aldershot? I can assure you that before the Official Plan process is completed we will have a couple of meetings in Ward One.