HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-10-18, Page 32Continued from page 1
in the planning department was
added to council’s strategic planning
session, but without naming
specifics, he said council has had a
number of staffing issues that have
taken precedent in recent months.
MacLellan said that if
development inquiries are being
held up, a change needs to be made
immediately.
“Development means construction
and construction means jobs,”
MacLellan said.
Goderich’s Deb Shewfelt,
however, along with several other
councillors, wondered if the
department could be restructured,
rather than adding jobs, as tight as
money is in the county.
“Could we just rearrange
priorities?” Shewfelt asked. “It
might be simple, but I have found
sometimes simple works.”
Bluewater’s Tyler Hessel said a
lack of manpower in the planning
department has been a problem in
his municipality for years and
Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh’s
Ben Van Diepenbeek said council
should look into hiring one or two
more planners sooner, rather than
later.
“We need to add more bodies,”
MacLellan said. “Let’s have the
planning department come back and
tell us what they need to alleviate
this.”
Bluewater’s Bill Dowson said he
hoped the planning department
could bring something back to
council by January, giving Tousaw
sufficient time to evaluate the
department’s needs and what could
be done to fix the problem.
Dowson said that any time council
comes up with an ambitious
proposal, such as the rain barrel
study currently being investigated,
those projects often end up in the
planning department offices. If
such a large amount of work is
going to end up with the
planning department, he said, the
staffing levels need to be
appropriate.
After a bit of uncertainty, the
school age program has been
brought to Hullett Central Public
School, providing parents with a
place for their children if they work
extended hours.
Blyth’s Deb Hakkers said that
while the Londesborough branch of
the program is still in its infancy, it
initially suffered from some
misinformation in the community.
Hakkers said originally there was
some uncertainty surrounding
whether the program would be
offered at Hullett Central Public
School or not, and once it was
offered, there were some whothought children were simply beingdropped off in Londesborough, but
then being bused to Clinton, which
is not the case.
Hakkers says that the program
begins accepting children at 7 a.m.
on weekdays and cares for them
until classes begin at 8:50 a.m. The
program kicks in once again after
classes conclude for the day at 3:10
p.m. and can run as late as 6 p.m.
The program has been running
through the Clinton Co-operative
Childcare Centre for 20 years in
Clinton, but this is the first year for
it in Londesborough.
Hakkers says the program offers
licensed care that’s approved by the
Ministry of Education and it takesplace in the school building, makingit easy for parents in the community.
“We provide snacks, outdoor
activities, games, crafts and it’s all
based around the interests of the
kids,” Hakkers said.
Hakkers says the students who
participate in the program dictate
their own interests and the“curriculum” is based on them.She says the Clinton Co-operative
Childcare Centre still provides the
original program in Clinton. It has
been operated out of Clinton Public
School for the last few years, but
was at Central Huron Secondary
School prior to the move to the
public school.Hakkers says that things havebeen slow during the program’s first
year in Londesborough, with
between five and 10 students being
welcomed in on a daily basis.
For more information on the
program or to enroll a child, call the
centre at 519-482-5777.
PAGE 32. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2012.School-age program rolled out at Hullett Central
Planner shortage
causes concerns
Protest
A mini-rally to de-fund abortion was held on Saturday in front of Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa
Thompson’s office with dozens in attendance making their voices heard. Harvey Snell spoke
briefly to the group before they lined the block of Queen Street, on both sides, holding signs
for passing motorists to see. A petition will be circulated at some local churches. In addition to
offering their thoughts on the topic of abortion, the group also wished Thompson well in the
wake of her father’s death last week, offering their condolences. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
By Shawn LoughlinThe Citizen