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Written by Editor
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Tuesday, 04 March 2008 12:00 |
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The PARC spent most of the evening revising the draft report for the Director. It is of note that our Trustee requested a significant number of changes. We do not have a copy of the draft to share, as we were told NO. Is the public not entitled to a copy of a draft public document during a public meeting? It is these actions that often create the appearance of lack of openness and transparency on behalf of the school board.
A PARC delegate requested an amendment to the report concerning the recently announced mid-Town Development with 20-30,000 resident addition to South East Oakville, with consideration that a small percentage may include children and it may impact on public education in SE Oakville. At the same time, it was mentioned the Halton Catholic School Board has post-poned any school closure decisions until the official town plan on mid-town development and Hospital closure / infill is determined. Our town councillor, Mary Chapin was in attendance and contacted the Mayor who arrived to dispel all rumours on this project. Mayor Burton arrived as the group was reviewing the recommendations page. A delegate comments about the political interference of both the town councillor and Mayor. The Mayor reported that the mid-town development will be a student / commuter centric community with no children in the area. He expects rental apartments to accommodate the 5,000 students in the area, as the Town is working toward a project with an unnamed University. The balance of the population, 15-25,000 will be residence commuting or working in the mid-town core, without children. There was further discussion about the Hospital site potential use as entry level housing for SE Oakville but the mayor doubted the community would support that effort, although he speculates it would add many children to our community and save the schools. Mayor Burton mentioned the site is zoned institutional so it should be protected. We wonder if this zoning is related to the student population he discussed in the mid-town development.
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