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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-01-20, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2011. MUNICIPALITY OF HURON EAST The Municipality of Huron East is accepting applications from interested citizens of The Municipality of Huron East who would serve on the Inter-Municipal Wind Turbines Working Group. This is a volunteer position. For additional information concerning             Applications should be addressed to the undersigned prior to January 27th, 2011. Clerk-Administrator J. R. McLachlan Municipality of Huron East 72 Main Street South, PO Box 610 Seaforth, ON N0K 1W0 519-527-0160 (tel) 519-527-2561 (fax) jrmclachlan@huroneast.com Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance Volunteer Opportunity Clinton Local Advisory Committee Applicants must be prepared to commit time and energy to the business of Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance and to provide a community perspective on health care issues. Interested individuals are encouraged to visit the HPHA website at www.hpha.ca or contact Bonnie Royal, Site Administrator at 519-482-8709 or email bonnie.royal@hpha.ca for further information. Please forward your expression of interest by Friday, February 11th, 2011 to: Bonnie Royal Site Administrator Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance Clinton Public Hospital 98 Shipley Street Clinton, ON N0M 1L0 Continued from page 1much more to the decision than justthe approval of Huron CountyCouncil. He said that if council wasto approve a new policy to allow these types of severances, the change would have to go to each of the nine lower tier municipalities, where they would decide if they would allow it and then Huron County would have to bring the change to the province (as it would conflict with the PPS) and then perhaps an OMB hearing that Tousaw said Huron County would almost certainly lose. Tousaw added that the clause in question, that the application would circumvent, is one of the clearest clauses in all of the PPS. Central Huron Reeve Jim Ginn said this very issue is the reason he wanted to represent his municipality at Huron County Council. Ginn said that as farm lots continue to get swallowed up by larger farming operations, houses aren’t sold, they’re rented to people by the owners of the farm. He said that as that practice continues, homes become maintained less and that the “quality of people goes down”.“It could have a tremendous effecton our rural areas,” he said.He said that as families continueto disappear from Huron County’s rural areas, there will be less and less reasoning to maintain things like roads and bridges. He cited a municipality that has begun to decommission its bridges for that very reason. He said the situation makes it tougher for farmers to find farm labour, because as farm homes become harder to find, there are fewer families and the families who live there won’t want to lose a son or daughter to another farm when there is work to be done on their own farm. Ginn said that these rural properties are a perfect attraction for artistic people and could help boost Huron County’s creative economy. “We need to be promoting Huron County and its quality of life,” he said. “We need to attract artistic people and boost the creative economy. This is where they want to move to.” North Huron Deputy-Reeve David Riach, however, called the people Ginn was talking about“treehuggers, for lack of a betterterm” saying that MDS would beimportant as they often haveproblems with the sounds and smells associated with farming in an area such as Huron County. He suggested that perhaps the severances could be allowed, but with an added clause that the people moving into the homes accept the “conditions” of the area they’re moving to, such as noise, smells and other aspects of living in an agricultural area. Ginn said that there would be nothing governing the sounds and smells of an agricultural area, that it would just be the “complainers” that council would have to deal with and that council would just have to have the courage to stand up to them. “When a neighbouring farm buys out an adjacent lot, that’s essentially another lot lost and if it doesn’t stop, we’re facing further depopulation,” Ginn said. “We seem to be afraid of the complainers. We’re not cramping a person’s ability to farm here, we just have to have the fortitude to defend a farmer’s right to farm.” Tousaw agreed with Ginn on someaspects, saying that there are plentyof social issues to consider whendiscussing the application, but thatthe issues Huron County is facing are not only happening in Huron County, they’re happening everywhere. “Right now there are only two school boards in Ontario that aren’t closing schools. The London board is closing schools,” Tousaw said. “It’s pure demographics. It’s smaller families who are having fewer children. I’m not sure this would have any effect on schools being closed.” Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Reeve Ben Van Diepenbeek said that the reason the application was a problem was because the MDS wasn’t being considered. North Huron Reeve and Huron County Warden Neil Vincent said that of the property he owns, he could potentially sell, under the provisions being discussed, nine lots and six of them would directly affect MDS on neighbouring farms. He said that would be a large cause for concern. “If they’re going to be subdivisions, then let them be subdivisions with proper planning,” Vincent said. Councillor Bill Siemon of Huron East said that many of Huron County’s municipalities, including Huron East have been “quite liberal” when it comes to farmland severances already. He said that if the application was approved, agriculture would be endangeredand the only business in the countrywould be selling houses.Goderich’s Deb Shewfelt said thatcouncil has to follow the rules and the rules are to turn the severance application down. “If you want to change the Provincial Policy Statement then that’s where you need to start,” he said. “You can’t thrash against the planning department because they’re just following the rules. “I think we need to put our Huron County hats on and do something that’s good for agriculture.” Ginn said that it was the perfect time to be having the debate they were having, as the PPS is currently under its annual five-year review at the provincial level. For further discussion on the issue, Tousaw suggested the issue be deferred or tabled. He said that because his report was listed on the agenda for the Jan. 12 meeting, and not official discussion, it would be unfair to the applicants if a decision was made and they were not notified so they would attend. Tousaw said it was his intention to float his report at the Jan. 12 meeting and bring the issue back in February for official discussion and a potential decision. A motion to table the application was made and then accepted pending further information from the planning department. The application will return for discussion at the Feb. 9 Committee of the Whole meeting in Goderich. Controversial planning issue to return in February Brussels Minor Hockey exec pleased with voter turnout Continued from page 1 he said. “And they could see the writing on the wall.” The Brussels executive is happy such a large percentage of Blyth supported the movement, and stated that the Brussels executive is very happy with the event, van Vliet said. “We’re looking forward to the future,” he said. “We’re very happy with the turnout and the mandate our parents have trusted us with.” Each organization will supply seven members to the board of directors which will guide the new amalgamated hockey association through its infancy. From Brussels, the seven directors will be Sandra Hunt, Jennifer McDonald, Paul Sebastian, Ron Stevenson, Ron Strome, Brian TenPas and van Vliet. Blyth directors include Coultes, Steve Howson, Rob Gordon, Kerry Nesbitt, Betty Popp, Diane Howson and Jodie Kerr. The new board was set to have its first meeting on Jan. 18, where it will have dealt with issues including registration, positions and fees. Continued from page 3 the congregation by singing the anthem, “Holy, Holy, Holy”. Graeme’s message to the adults was “Leaving the Familiar Behind”. Things in our world are changing and have become challenging. The family life the way we knew it is changing. Our world is changing as it was shown in the killings that took place in Arizona. Jesus wanted to fulfill the promise that God had promised to Abraham. Abraham and Sarah could talk to God and followed what God told them to leave everything behind and go to Canaan which is now Israel. Abraham and Sarah were willing to do anything God asked of them. We should be willing to do the same. Sometimes we are asked to step out of our comfort zone. People of Faith can look toward to a better community if we stay in touch with God. The next hymn was, “O Jesus I have Promised” was followed by the receiving of the offering, the offering response, “We Give Thee But Thine Own”, the prayer of dedication, the prayers for the people of the world and the singing of the Lord’s Prayer. The last hymn, “My Faith Looks Up to Thee” was followed by the commissioning and benediction and the choral response, “Sent Forth by God’s Blessing.” Everyone was invited for coffee and to celebrate the January birthdays with the Sunday School. Abraham, Sarah recalled at Blyth United The horn section Left to right, Kathryn Peach, Danielle Randell, and Claude Danford had the opportunity to toot their own horns at Blyth Public School on Jan. 12. The three are members of the F.E. Madill Secondary School band. (Denny Scott photo)