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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1972-06-22, Page 14TRANS - CANADA EXETER FAIRGROUNDS Drivers- THIS FRIDAY JUNE 23, -• 7:30 P.M. ADMISSION ADULTS & STUDENTS $1.50 CHILDREN 50c Hell who's RINGING DOORBELLS FOR YOU? News- Record Clinton PHONE "412;3443' • Whatever you've got to sell, we'll help. Newspaper advertising rings bells . . . brings in customers , because shopping starts in the pages of this newspaper. 1 04* th We are celebrating our 50th Anniversary in the upholstery business. We began to learn the upholstering trade in Holland fifty-years ago when we we're 17. We carried on here since we came to Seaforth 16 years ago, Ask to see our large selection of quality samples FREE ESTIMATES SPECIAL , REDUCTION GOOD UNTIL JUNE 30th PHONE, 527.0190 Seaforth Upholstery 80 Centre St., SEAFORPR 4A—OlintQn N.em-Floord, Thursday, June 22, 1972 Plenty of concern, for future development Continued from Page needs they observed therein. The use of high (H.), medium (M). and low (L) categories for the priorities was not Only very confusing, but inappropriate; since such broad designation?; defy precisedefinition and render the designation almost Meaningless. Generally speaking, the participants demonstrated a high degree of coaceru for the future physical development and economic structure of the region and eXhihited a genuine desire for meaningful involvement in the Government's program for fashioning a development plan for Midwestern Ontario. During most of the sessions the level of participation was unusually high for such meetings, with $5-90 per cent of those in attendance entering into the discussion and debate. Those taking part represented a quite broad cross-section of backgrounds and interests in the region: among them were farmers, businessmen. tradesmen, workers, educators, students, housewives, electerl officials. civic employees, planners and others, In spite of the potential significance of the report, the representation from the larger urban centres of Waterloo County was surprisingly low: most of those attending came from the smaller communities and rural areas. Although there was admittedly a predisposition to not participate on the part of some centres, the response seemingly reflects the inadequacy of the Province's presentation and preparatory meetings. The goals statements that precede each of the tables were very likely intended by the authors of the report as nothing more than very generally stated objectives for the future development of the province and the region. Perhaps the purpose and significance of these goals statements were not sufficiently outlined in the report. for they tended to generate .a negative reaction in the various meetings held in the region. Participants remarked that they were excessively generalized and amounted to meaningless "motherhood" statements that furnished no guidance or specific direction relative to the report. Further, they considered these goals to be symptomatic of a study that "..,fails to come tb -grips with issues in a way that they can readily be understood": one that "...is filled with high sounding words and phrases". These statements in the context or Chapter VIII—which was the section of the report that was studied most thoroughly by. the people involved—served to reinforce the impression that the PHASE I: ANALYSIS had been poorly conceived and constructed by the Regional Development Branch. Some of the participants could see no justification for including needs such as those shown under Public Safety. feeling that they concerned matters that were related in. only a general sense, and were riot of sufficient relevance to be included as pa rt Of a.regional development plan aml therefore as part of the PHASE I; ANALYSIS. To the outside observer, the emphasis seemed to have been placed on quantity rather than on quality. The precise meaning of many of the Reed categories remains unclear due to their brevity. Frequently the participants were unable to determine exactly what was lobe considered as part of a given need. They often appeared to be either too broad or too narrow to apply to conditions in a particular county. In the Regional Development Branch's tabular arrangement, many needs had . been simplified to the point• where they inhibited, rather than assisted, public understanding and participation. In the case of the PHASE I: ANALYSIS, the meanings or definitions for many of the briefly-stated needs in the tables were buried in the descriptive text of earlier background chapters: the process. broke clown at this point, for people simply could not relate the detailed background treatment of various issues in the earlier sections of the report to the needs in the tables. One unforeseen difficulty encountered in trying to identify needs and to establish priorities in the public • meetings stemmed from the inability of many people to distinguish between existing needs and other needs that they felt could be expected to develop at some future date. Both current and projected needs were considered by participants to be important, but both could not be accommodated by the arrangement of tables and needs in the Phase 1: Analysis. Some participants expressed ' the view that without a reasonably realistic understanding of the monies to be made available by the Province for future expenditure in the region, and a general grasp of the relative cost of meeting particular needs, the general public cannot be expected to designate priorities that have any real measure of validity or utility. They felt that the present procedure on the one hand disregarded any consideration of the future financing to be made available. and on the other hand the feasibility and likelihood of action on the part of the Province to meet specific needs that had been identified. The results simply cannot he treated as a reliable base opinion for use in the preparation of a development plan for the region. The final list of revised tables of needs and priorities furnishes no adequate grounds for establishing priorities in a provincial program of regional growth and expansion. The "important problem issues" believed to be the most pressing bythe discussants in the review sessions are the. following: 1, Increase the number of urban centres which are large enough to Pertilit self-sustained growth in various economic activities: 2. Improve highways from Stratford to Hwy. 401 and to the Kitchener-Waterloo area: 3, Provide adequate supply of water and sewage facilities: 4, In the field of social and economic welfare service provide multi-service centres, accessible to as wide a range of people as possible: 5. Increase the number of doctor's and dentists in rural areas: 6. Increase concentration of adult education in the region: 7, Develop recreational resources that are either undeveloped or not available. In view of the disappointing results from the review of the Phase 1: Analysis, the Development Council undertook to carefully re-examine the regional needs and general priorities indicated in their report of 1968 "Midwestern Ontario Development Area Recommended Program for Development 1069-1973". The findings of that report were considered to be the best available statement of conditions in Midwestern Ontario, An up- dated and revised listing of needs and general priorities is provided in this report, with the recommendation that the Province give consideration to the results as comprising a body of information and opinion on .the region that is both accurate and representative of views across the region at the present time, REVIEW OF POTENTIAL CENTRES OF OPPORTUNITY From the Phase 1: Analysis, from other Government reports. and from statements by government personnel it is clear that the growth centre concept is to be introduced by the Province to this region in the not too distant future. The basic objectives in establishing this policy and the ensuing program of encouraging •decentralized nodalization" are, of course, to increase the range and number of employment opportunities throughout the region, to create additional clusterings of personal and social services, and thereby, to 'create extended or enlarged urban service areas. It was suggested that any policy of growth assistance to he included in the Province's Design for Development Program should be extended to include non- industrial centres such as tourist communities; it was felt that communities of this and perhaps other types could benefit from assistance, and would respond to an appropriate form of growth stimulation. Looking only to forms of industrial growth might be to take an altogether' too communities where they "couldn't he properly serviced and where they likely would not remain", Others were concerned that a situation could be created in the region in which industries would relocate to designated growth centres from existing slow-growth communities, thus further increasing existing economic imbalances. Also. there might be the very real possibility of business enterprises shifting their location from one community to another once initial location grants and other financial incentives have been exhausted, Some of the questions raised at the public meetings and discussion sessions that relate to the growth centre concept are listed below: The province-wide distribution of regional needs and priorities will directly affect the scale and content of the growth centre program in Midwestern Wart° how many growth centres can the Province reasonably afford across Ontario?) Is the implementation of the concept financially and politically feasible on the scale that the Phase 1: Analysis seems to suggest? Are the specific results of applying this concept predictable, and if so. to what degree? Are there thresholds or critical levels of required expenditures to achieve specific results.? Will there be several types of growth Centres in the region? , Will Some centres be Selected for immediate growth stimulus and others for staged —assistance" at later dates? . The growth centre concept is recognized by the Development Council as being the key element and dynamic factor in any plan for the regional economic expansion of the four counties of Midwestern Ontario. One outcome of the region's experience with the Phase 1: Analysis has been the creation of a high degree of wide- spread interest and concern with regard to the next steps to be taken by the Province in the preparation of Phrase 11, The participants believe that there is a pressing need for an early appraisal of the concept. its constituent elements and implications as well as a more understandable and fruitful examination of the entire question of evaluating the future growth potentials of existing urban centres in the region. They believe that there should be a thorough discussion of all the relevant issues with the people of Midwestern Ontario before the publication of a Phase 11 report on the region. SUMMARY The Phase 1: Analysis is a preliminary research document that is totally unsuited for use in this manner and for the purpose intended by the Province. It is regrettable that it was introduced at a stage in a provincial planning program at which citizen participation and subsequent responses to Government data and analyses were the principal ereinents and the major focus of In looking beyond the immediate problems and frustrations that emerged from the Phase 1 stage report to the overall Design for Development Program of the Province, many participants concluded that the Government doesn't know where it's going with regional development in Ontario, or how it intends to get there. Thus, the Jack of direction and clarity, and the consequent sense of confusion that attended the Phase 1: Analysis review, was extended (in the minds of the iiirticipants)from that document to the planning process and provincial program in general. When the- difficulties of comprehending and responding to the Phase 1: Analysis were fully recognized, and when no clear, satisfactory answers could be supplied by Regional Development Branch personnel to questions regarding the structure and process of the Design for Development Program in Ontario, not a few participants suggested that the Government was involving the general public of Midwestern Ontario in a sort of meaningless, intentionally unproductive "Game" of token citizen participation. Regardless of the degree to which that particular conclusion' might he valid or invalid, the fact remains that disillusionment and alienation have been generated across the region. first by tine absence and unavailability of fundamental information relating to the provincial Program, and second, by the use of a report with basic deficiencies and an inherent unsuitability for use in a public examination of regional conditions, needs and potentials. Although it has been said that the response to the Phase 1: Analysis has been a great disappointment — when viewed in the context of the Regional Development Branch's expectations and requirements — the experience has not been an entirely negative one. This submission contains a large number of comments, suggestions and questions relating to study materials, procedures and both key areas of the Regional Development t3ranch's study — most of which should be constructive and helpful to the Government in preparing and introducing similar reports to this and other regions of Ontario. Much of positive worth has been derived from the experience. A number of other positive results came out of the meetings and discussions from the dialogue between individuals, interest groups and municipalities in the region. For example, the Phase 1: Analysis Served as an educative tool for the people of Midwestern Ontario hr examining regional planning and economic development. The participants were still very much involved in the process of learning at the conclusion of the review; and although it was not intended to be so used. the report of necessity becaille the background and point of departure for discussions covering the planning process, planning concepts, policies, procedures. citizen participation, the provincial planning program, etc. " In many respects, the examination of the report helped to provide the preparatory -education" that properly should have preceded its release to the region: in this situation. the Development Council found itself attempting to provide a framework and perspective that the Province should properly have supplied months before. The Regional Development Branch's report no (Mille has value — for the right purposes and for the proper audience. it is a potentially useful and informative source of background information on many facets of Midwestern Ontario, and conceivably could form the basis for certain discussion and debate relative toa particular aspects of the region, as well as proposed methods for evaluating future growth potentials of urban communities. The inability of the Phase 1; Analysis review to produce sufficient and usable results was, and continues to be, a matter of deep concern to the Development Council. Even though no question remains as to why this occurred tire consequent problems for Province and region remain. The very difficult task confronting the Development Council was that of salvaging the best it possibly could from the experience and the results obtained: first, by preparing a submission for tire Minister that was balanced, fair, candid and constructive; and second, by furnishing the Province with the best available and most helpful information, observations and questions relating to the two major issues v.ised by the report — regional ne eds and priorities and the urban growth centre concept. The Development Council believes that its re-examination and revision of the regional needs and generalized priorities presented in its 1968 report, Midwestern Ontario Development Area Recommended Program for Developinent 1969 — 1973, provides a sound 'and reliable Please turn to Page 5 111111111111111)111IIIIMIIIIM1111111111111111111111111111W11111111 Let us help you own your home Not just "some day" but now! We can help you get the-money you need at interest rates that cost you less than rent — repayable in easy installments that get less and less as you enjoy home ownership more and more. Act on it today — at Victoria and Grey. VICTORIA and VG GREY TRUST COMPANY SINCE 1589 Lealand Hill, Manager Elgin and Kingston Streets Goderich 524.7381 narrow view of the figure prosirects for urban expansion.) Neaely all the municipal representatives at the different Study sessions expressed a desire for local economic improvements. to be achieved through additional growth. At the same time they registered very strong feelings about the rate and senile of expansion. Growth was viewed in this context as being acceptable and desirable only if it was to occur at an appropriate rate and to an appropriate scale. Some of the discussants were concerned about the type of growth that might be generated — growth) which could he very disruptive, intorducing substantial changes to existing physical and social structures: they were emphatic in expressing opposition to a development plan that would aim at stimulating growth centres to population• levels hr excess of 25.000 — 30,000 people. It is clear, from the evidence at hand, that the number and distribution of growth centres here and elsewhere in Ontario will be very much influenced by the availability — current and future — of adequate water and sewage treatment services, The existing potential for growth of most urban centres is largely determined by the potential for providing these basic services. The greatest difficulties are likely to be encountered with limitation imposed by the restricted capacity of local watercourses to dilute treated sewage effluent. Although a technological break-through (providing economic treatment systems releasing high purity effluent to watercourses). could change existing conditions substantially, the present prospects are not promising. The financial implications of using the growth centre approach in regional development planning are also important to consider. As indicated earlier, the successful implementation of the concept in the region will require investment from three sources: 1) the provincial government. 2) the local municipal governments. and 3) the private sector. Some people appear to have assumed that the growth centre concept could be developed. introduced and financed by the Province alone. with few. if any. demands upon other jurisdictions and interests, , • - • ' attention, in the region. - It was euggegted that firms It became evident to the could be attracted to locate in Development Council. early in the proceedings. that one particularly important and unfortunate outcome of the general public's assessment of the Government's study stemmed directly from the nature of that renori. A .reaction that was deeper than simple frustration was generated by a report that was regarded by its reader's as complex. confusing. containing outdated statistics Packing essential information, and frequently using value judgements in place of hand facts.