Dear Editor:
RE: ‘Arrogance of council,’ Feb. 15.
Sonia Day’s letter is still in my daily thoughts over three weeks later – she hit the nail on the head.
I attended the Centre Wellington council meeting a few months ago (about a five-storey building on the corner of St. Andrew Street East and Gowrie) and what I witnessed was shocking. The town hall was packed with concerned citizens, every room was at capacity, and the standing room was shoulder to shoulder.
Everyone except the builder and his consulting entourage strongly condemned the plan citing numerous concerns. The well-pointed speeches, especially from the representative of the neighbouring Melville church highlighted many problems and concerns. It was a tense meeting, and it was evident our community was very upset with the consideration of breaking multiple rules to appease a developer.
I recall leaving the meeting thinking to myself, “Wow what a landslide. There is no way our council will approve the developer’s plan without concessions made on the height and parking spaces.” I felt empathy for the developer with the massive amount of time and expense they incurred with zero chance of approval.
This brings me to “shocking”. How can the council experience the community outrage and simply ignore their voices? Are we missing something here? Does the council have stronger relationships with the developers than the citizens who elected them?
Sonia’s opening comment “It’s coming folks whether we like it or not” may or may not be true, but let’s remember when we have our next election, the people control government not vice versa.
Chris McLean,
Belwood