HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-09-29, Page 24PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011.
Youth group
aims for change
Continued from page 1
at increasing the viability of local
businesses, which would require just
a few more families.
“We need to get families to move
to Blyth,” he said. “We just need a
few more families and the businesses
on the main street would become
much more viable.”
Deb Sholdice, General Manager of
the Blyth Festival, put an exact
number on the amount of new
residents needed.
“We need 200 to 300 more people
to live here,” she said. “that would
make downtown commerce viable.”
Scrimgeour agreed with her,
stating that the extra people would
help local churches.
Sparling spoke of branding, and
how the current branding of Blyth -
the historic village, needs to either
be defined or left.
“We need to define and be true to
this brand and have the courage to
stick to it or drop it,” he said.
North Huron Deputy-Reeve David
Riach then asked if keeping the
historic village branding was a good
idea, or if it was holding them back.
Elliott stated that, while being the
historic village was a good brand,
they needed to draw a line.
“We’re talking about having a plan
with historic leanings,” he said. “We
don’t want all-glass buildings in the
downtown core, but historic facades
are expensive to maintain.”
He stated that, one way or another,
the plan shouldn’t hold back Blyth if
they should ever need major repairs
similar to those in Goderich.
Elliott also spoke on the
importance of having a plan to deal
with underinsured, or uninsured
buildings causing gaps in the
downtown core. He pointed out the
gaps in areas like Clinton and
Lucknow where fires have recently
brought down buildings that haven’t
been replaced.
Sparling stated that, regardless of
the branding, they had to look at
what the important population
growth tactics they wanted to see
were.
He outlined several different paths
the community could take, some
focusing on bringing new residents
or “strangers” into the community,
while others focused on keeping the
residents they have, or bringing back
residents that once lived in Blyth,
whether they are recent graduates,
business people or retirees.
Scrimgeour stated that one focus
should be on trying to bring people
here who have families spread out.
He mentioned one family who
recently moved to Blyth who have
children around the world who now
come to Blyth and see what the
village has to offer because their
parents live here.
The Blyth Festival’s new
communications director and former
Central Huron municipal
representative John Bezaire stated
that one major step in planning the
community would be to get away
from the Huron County Planning
Department.
He said that, while the planning
department does their job well, it’s
working to a document outlined by
the province that may not work in
the best interest of the community.
He stated that Blyth and North
Huron should seek a third party
planner to help the development,
adding that the community could
work with municipal neighbours like
Morris-Turnberry and Ashfield-
Colborne-Wawanosh to cover the
costs and develop together.
“As long as the county is still
leading the planning, I feel that
we’ve lost an opportunity here,” he
said.
Councillors present were divided
on the idea with Blyth Ward
representative Brock Vodden saying
it wasn’t in the budget, Riach stating
that he would work with Morris-
Turnberry or another municipality to
share a planner and Wingham Ward
representative Bernie Bailey stated
that, while he saw the value in the
idea, it’s something that needs to be
looked at on a later date.
Sparling stated that a third party
could work well, as those in the
community often can’t see simple
solutions or problems right in front
of them due to their proximity.
“A third party, like Stantec, could
see what we might not be able to,
they may be able to see the forest
where we can’t because of the trees,”
he said, adding that, as long as they
were given a defined job, the price
should be manageable.
The group also discussed the
assets that the township and Blyth
have, and how they would fit into the
growth of the municipality over the
next five years.
Suggestions were asked for the top
five assets and several responses
were given, including Blyth’s
Memorial Hall, the Blyth
campground and community centre,
Blyth’s “genuine friendliness”,
Blyth’s reasonable cost of living, the
tree inventory, walkability and
service clubs.
When asked to list the assets that
would have an impact on the next 10
years, the group stated that
developable land and street
development were important, and
Elliott stated that a plan should be
developed for when the Blyth
Emergency Services Training Centre
(ESTC) hits its stride.
This wasn’t the first mention of the
building, as most of the assembled
group agreed that if they were not
prepared for the influx of people
brought in from the centre, other
municipalities would benefit from it.
Elliott said that they need a plan to
provide everything needed for the
students of the centre. He stated that
they will need amenities, as well as
unique opportunities and experience
in the community.
Continued from page 16
often in one way or another, “Some
churches, which are so often ready
to tell the world how it should
change, especially resist changes to
their own internal workings. They
are, so this thinking goes, so open-
minded they are not always quite
sure what they believe or where they
are headed, and so they come to treat
‘the way we do things here’ as if it
were the end-all of the church. By
contrast, a church with a clear,
focused purpose like 'bring souls to
Christ' will try new worship styles,
change its governance structure, or
rebalance its staff - whatever works -
because the end is more important
than the means.”
There are dotted about the
landscapes some churches that defy
that generalization. If some churches
are slower to reform their situation,
it may well be because of their
unconscious belief in what Martin
Luther called the “priesthood of all
believers.” This belief alone, may
well make governance a more
complex challenge than it should be
for a congregation.
Building a new way of thinking is
no different than what our young
people are striving to do among us
by building a new generation!
Giving freedom and voice to what
can be! I’m glad, congregations and
groups of all kinds, are now thinking
more creatively and living more
openly to God's direction and will.
No structure guarantees success or
promises a life free of problems. T.S.
Eliot warned against “dreaming of
systems so perfect that no one will
need to be good.”
Luckily congregations are full of
people who are good already. The
work of change can be simply a
matter of enabling our young people
to be as good as they are!
Blyth’s strategic plan isdiscussed at meeting
Cooking it up
Tom Burke was donning his cowboy hat for Sunday’s
downtown revitalization event while cutting some beef for
the all-you-can-eat barbecue, which was sold out before
the weekend. (Jim Brown photo)
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