Milton
Its coming faster than you think. This years looks to be better than last years event. People come from all around to attend what most people feel is the best Fall Fair in Ontario. Id have a hard time finding one better.
www.miltonfair.com is the site to visit with more details coming in the next few weeks. This years Milton Fair will be held September 26-28, 2008!
Or as some people call it Labour Day.
This coming weekend (its pretty sad its Tuesday now and Im already looking to Friday) is Steam Era at Milton Fairgrounds. For those who are new to town (and for those already here who havent gone) you are missing a blast of a weekend.
You can go directly to the site www.steam-era.com and check out the line up. Corn roasts every night, mini tractor pulls and showcases of the evolution of tractors from the early 1900’s as well. If youre nearby listen for the tractors and the steam WHISTLES blaring from the fair grounds. Lots of other activities and things for the kids to do as well.
Cost is only $6 for adults and 12 and under are free. It is worthwhile to check it out by the fairgrounds this coming Labour day.
This from todays Globe and Mail. With the changes that are being made and expanding the provinces green belt (ie cant build here legislation) it could definately throw a monkey wrench in municipalities plans for further growth. Just a couple of years ago, Dalton McQuinty made changes to the “Places to Grow” quotas for population growth and places like Georgetown, Oakville and Milton among others made changes to their development plans.
Now it seems the province wants to change the rules again without making amendments to the other legislation. This esssentially means that the province wants more people in smaller areas. Seeing how theyve laid the ground work for more people or population density in a specific area…they have now made that specific area much smaller.
For those of us who like Milton the way it is (minus all the highrise apartments that dot the skyline of places like Toronto, Mississauga etc) might be in for a fight. WIth Premier Dalton and the Ontario government making these changes, it will force municipalities to make more changes to their official plans for growth, change bylaws that are in place for height restrictions on buildings like we have here in Milton, and before you know it Dalton and his boys have just erased the view of the escarpment for 90% of us.
And its not just that. Milton, for all its good and bad, has a certain feel to it. We can drive in along Derry Road or Britannia Road, enjoy a bit of farmland (at least for the time being) and have our view unobscured by large apartments and condo developments. Things are definately in for a change.
Last week, the province published criteria for the expansion of the protected lands at municipal behest. It included a requirement that municipalities could propose changes in the greenbelt boundaries only after public consultation and approval by both local and upper-tier municipalities.
The new rules are unlikely to have an immediate impact on the development pattern in the Golden Horseshoe. However, they have the potential to drive the next generation’s development farther away from Toronto, if municipalities close to the city choose to expand the greenbelt.
To get provincial approval, a municipality would have to show that the new boundary meets the same criteria for the protection of land with environmental or agricultural importance that the province used to establish the original greenbelt legislation in 2005.
When the province created the greenbelt, some municipalities, such as Waterloo Region and Wellington County, argued that it should have been larger. The province brought down its new rules in response to this pressure.
What upsets industry is the possibility that the latest change could throw a last-minute curve at municipal efforts to bring official plans in line with the provincial Places To Grow Act, which sets population and density targets for the most populous urban area in Canada.
“This is premature and a potential distraction,” Stephen Dupuis, chief executive officer at the Building Industry and Land Development Association, said in an interview.
Municipalities have been scrambling to align official plans with the Places to Grow Act by a provincial deadline of next June, but under the new greenbelt criteria, a municipality “may initiate a request to grow the greenbelt at the same time as it is undertaking its Growth Plan conformity exercise,” the province said.
“All these municipalities are working on a conformity exercise, and hopefully, they are going to meet the deadline. But you throw this into the mix, and they could be sidetracked. The next thing you know, this could be an excuse for delay,” Mr. Dupuis said.
Tony Guergis, warden of Simcoe County, a municipality in which environmentalists have said the greenbelt should be expanded, said he welcomed the new greenbelt authority for municipalities as a confirmation of the county’s ability to protect the environment.
Even so, he said, “we could have planned without it. The County of Simcoe’s new official plan protects over a third of the entire county as it is. I think we are well on the way to achieving and meeting what it is … that is what this direction from the province is trying to get at.”
As well as Simcoe County, other areas where an expanded greenbelt might come into play are Caledon, Halton Hills, and the outer parts of the Golden Horseshoe such as Waterloo Region or neighbouring Wellington County, which surrounds the city of Guelph, an industry analyst said.
But attempts to expand the greenbelt could pit countryside landowners against city folk.
When the province set the greenbelt boundaries three years ago, some councillors in Halton Hills thought that another 7,000 acres of the town should be included, but they backed off when farmers complained that it would deprive them of retirement incomes when they sold their farms.
In the longer term, the possibility of expanding the greenbelt raises two other vital issues.
One is where growth will go once current development areas are built out. Currently, the land zoned agricultural that lies outside urban boundaries acts as a reserve for the period beyond 3031, when urban areas are expected to be built out.
If the greenbelt line moves, it will change the urban development pattern. “Growth pressure had to find an outlet,” Mr. Dupuis said.
The other issue is that the new plan could create political tensions inside two-tier municipal and regional governments. If lower-tier municipalities respond to pressure to limit growth by proposing changes to greenbelt boundaries, it would shift the growth pressure to a neighbouring municipality, said a development-industry executive who asked not to be named.
The family and I will be on the move to Milton’s fairgrounds in the next little while to take part in the official opening of Milton’s Canada Day Festivities. In case you have never been to our Canada Day Celebrations, heres some idea of what to expect.
Every year there is a veteran’s breakfast at Victoria Park from 10 -11 am. Then at 1130 there is a brief ceremony at the cenotaph to honour the men and women who have given their lives for our country. This is a great time to mingle with some of Milton’s veterans and have a chance to say thank you as well.
Afterwards they form a parade with the veterans, city politicians, our MP and MPP and march towards the fairgrounds and the stage for the formal part of the celebrations. After the dignitaries speak, the town officially opens up the day for celebrations by a cutting of our Canada birthday cake. The planned events go on all day long and will last until 11pm.
Also this year at 12:30 there will be a swearing in ceremony to welcome Canada’s newest citizens. Its a special day for them and what a better day to become a Canadian then on Canada Day!
Each year the Canada Day celebrations get better and better. Seeing how this will our first Canada Day with both Anthony and Miranda, it will be even more special. Theres always lots to do down at the fairgrounds with games, rides, and goods for everyone.
I urge everyone who attends to help raise money to pay for our celebrations by giving as generously at the entrances with the members of the Canada Day committee and the Lions club. Our celebrations are paid for exclusively from private donations from individuals, companies and people like us…ones who join together each year for one amazing day in Milton.
Happy Canada Day everyone.
It’s another long weekend in Milton. Schools are all out and kids are running around their homes as we speak trying to find something to keep them busy. I know Anthony is ready to do something … and fast. That’s why I love the summer. He loves it too, like driving his bike to the park and playing basketball and soccer with his friends too. As a parent of a very energetic 7 year old boy, I worry about his safety, like other parents do, even more around this time of year.
It was just only a few short weeks ago when young lives were extinguished over a weekend because of speeding, careless driving and other road issues. Lets hope and pray that this Canada Day weekend wont have the same tragic results for other families.
I was taking a few moments to go to one of my favourite sites www.hawthornevillager.com to look at some of the posts in its highly successful forum. In case you haven’t visited it, hundreds of people who live in Milton post there daily, comments about the town, and other general items. One of the pastimes on the forum is to raise issues like speeding in our neighbourhoods.
We all see it happen on a regular basis and some just don’t know what to do about it. I live off Yates Drive east of Thompson road and I experience the speeders almost daily. I know there are also a number of different intersections and streets in town that suffer from the same problem.
I’ve written here many times about the intersection of Yates Drive and March Crossing being the location of 3 collisions in less than a year and how many of the residents in the area asking for either a 4 way stop or something that will encourage people to slow down. Those requests have been answered by letters from the town staff saying traffic counts are too low and stop signs aren’t speed controls and the list goes on.
Reading one of the topics on the Hawthorne Villager recently, proves to me the problems haven’t been addressed or solved in the two years since this new council took office. I have talked with many people in our area and other areas of town and they have all complained about the inaction of our council representatives. The town seems to be more interested in telling us that they are doing an “outstanding job” than actually DOING an outstanding job.
Whats being done about this isn’t working. The more we seem to “ask” others to be more considerate, the more its being ignored. I mean, other peoples lives are more important and if they deem themselves to be above others, they are going to continue.
To the folks who fly up Yates (both sides) rushing from dropping their kids off to school feel that it will save them time to get where THEY are going, they’ll continue to drive at speeds topping 70km/h (yes unofficial spot checks prove this). Its all about the “ME” instead of the “US” that it should be.
And from personal experience talking to a lot of people during the election a couple of years ago, these same people I see driving down the streets at excessive speeds, a LOT of them told me road safety was one of their important issues. They know who they are…I wont name names.
The town refuses to consider lowering the speed limits in residential areas because it will frustrate drivers and make them speed more (HUH? Ive never got that logic) The town refuses to consider stop signs in high traffic intersections because unnecessary stop signs frustrate drivers and will lead to more abuse.
Lower the speed limits, raise the fines. Hit people in the pocketbook because it seems logic and reason doesnt work with many of the offenders. Ive noticed on Yates a slight improvement in the speed levels…there are always people who will ignore the rules and do what they want.
If you get tagged for a $200 fine for speeding on a residential street,will you think twice before flooring it to save a few seconds at a light? I know I would.
I would hope that logic and reason wins in these cases, as we all live in these homes, and we all either have kids or know someone who has kids and we want them to be safe…but in the same breath, they fly down streets at excessive speeds putting people at risk.
Last election I mentioned that town council has lost its focus on certain issues like growth, taxation and community safety. Its sad to say that nothing seems to have changed. We can email the councillors as much as we want…I know of several people on our street and others who have sent Brian and Rick an email or phone call only to have silence be their only answer.
What frustrates drivers is the actions of a few impacting everyone else. I don’t know about you but id rather piss off someone who’s driving 80 down my street if it helps those who obey the laws be less frustrated.
Happy Canada Day everyone! Safe travels!
If you have ever gone to the farmers market in downtown Milton, you are familiar with Ann Kornuta. Shes the one who seems to be painting all the time.
Every week, or as often as she can, she can be found in front of the Haight Gallery in the midst of all the vendors in the farmers market, painting. Shes just another example of the amazing talent found in the town of Milton.
Ann spends a lot of time on her craft and over the years has assembled quite a portfolio of artwork. She has a website containing pictures of her work, and tonight she sends me a link to show me some of the new pieces. I’ve been a tad busy these past few weeks so I’ve fallen behind on some of them.
The picture above is called Go West which shows people looking westward to Canada’s fastest growing municipality….(yep you guessed it) Milton. I love this picture because it gives you the impression that people are waiting in line to come here to experience what many of us now take for granted…a great town and a great community.
One where we can, if we like, head to a big box store to buy camping gear for the long weekend at Canadian Tire. Or if we so choose, we can head to a local pub and take advantage of some nice weather and sit out on the rooftop patio of Ned Devine’s. There are so many parks in and around town to take advantage of the view of the escarpment or go for a hike. No matter what side of town you live on, there are many coffee shops like Cafe Deda, and restaurants like Symposium at the ready to have a quick cup of coffee or a meal for the family. Or, if we want to, head to downtown Milton on Saturday mornings and check out some great produce from local farmers and watch a talented artist as she puts together another fantastic painting while you wait.
Just some of the great things about this town.