The Citizen, 2013-09-12, Page 27Morris-Turnberry councillors
want all the municipalities along the
route of a possible rail trail from
Guelph to Goderich to know they’re
opposed to the project.
At their Sept. 3 meeting,
councillors voted to send a
resolution to other municipalities
stating its opposition, with all
councillors except Mayor Paul
Gowing agreeing.
A report of an ongoing study into
the proposal for a trail using the
right-of-way of the former Canadian
Pacific Railway line from Guelph to
Goderich, now owned by the
province, had been presented to
Huron County Council in May by
Cindy Fisher, tourism co-ordinator
and Rebecca Rathwell, project
manager. It had been added to the
agenda at Gowing’s request only as
an item of information but
councillors’ vehement opposition
was soon in evidence.
“I’m still opposed to it,” said
Deputy-Mayor Jason Breckenridge
who immediately proposed sending
a letter stating that opposition to all
the other municipalities along the
route.
“I’m not sure why you’re so
deathly against it,” said Gowing.
“We had sent our concerns to the
county and we’ve never heard from
anyone,” said Councillor Neil
Warwick.
Gowing pointed out that there will
be a public consultation process and
that all residents along the former
rail line will be contacted as part of
that process.
Warwick noted that the proposal
allows the use of snowmobiles in the
winter, but no motorized vehicles
would be allowed in summer. “If you
can drive a snowmobile down it in
winter, why can’t I drive my ATV
down it?” he wondered.
“They’re not at the point of
answering all the questions yet,”
Gowing said.
“I don’t trust them,” said
Breckeridge in proposing the
resolution to be sent to other
municipalities. “My concern is this
is being promoted by people who
don’t have this in their backyard.”
Gowing suggested there is
probably more illegal use of the
former railway right-of-way now
since there is no monitoring of its
use, than there would be if there was
system of trail monitors as proposed.
Despite the mayor’s observations,
all other councillors supported the
resolution of opposition to the trail.
Morris-Turnberry Council aims to stop rail trail
County report outlines
public consultation process
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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013. PAGE 27.
Brussels U16 — “North Huron Soccer League Silver Champs:
Back row, from left: Kaitlin Wick, coach Joe Terpstra, coach Kathy Blake. Third row: Katie
Roth, Lorren Poland, Emily Terpstra, Emma Strome, Alida Swart. Second row: Madison
Hinschberger, Alyssa Bragan, Alison Terpstra, Tiffany Deitner, Cassidy Heise. Front row:
Johanna Blake. Absent: Faith Sebastian, Stephanie Hummel, Laura Souch, Kelsey
Chapman.
THANK YOU!
Brussels Minor Soccer would like to thank
past executive members, coaches, referees,
parents and players for a fantastic season!
Special Thanks to all the Sponsors
who have supported the Sports Pages
By Keith Roulston
The Citizen
A report to Huron County
Council’s May 29 Committee of the
Whole meeting outlined a number of
issues that must be dealt with
before the former CP Rail
right-of-way could be used for a
Guelph-to-Goderich trail. Among
these are:
• A public consultation meeting
should be held with notice given to
adjacent landowners in order to
identify possible additional issues
that would need to be dealt with. A
suggestion at that time was for a late
autumn meeting.
• Further investigation is required
to the recommended due diligence
practices to minimize the risk for the
county if it was to lease the right-of-
way. Wellington County and
Waterloo Region already have
experience since part of the former
railway is currently used for the
Kissing Bridge Trailway which runs
from Guelph to Millbank.
• A signage program would need
to be implemented outlining
permitted uses, prohibited uses, a
users’ code, contact information,
etc.
• More research and clarification
are needed on the county’s and the
G2G trail group’s obligations for
fencing adjacent to agricultural
areas.
• Consultation is recommended
with municipalities, including the
use of municipal roads required to
link the trail where bridges have
been removed.
See histories and
historic photographs
on the Huron History
section of our website
www.northhuron.on.ca