Foreshore petition to be presented on 29/10/18

Councillor Wendy Harrison will present the Toronto Foreshore Protection Group’s (TFPG) petition of 5157 signatures to Councillors on Monday 29th October. The petition is objecting to Council’s proposal for a multi-storey development on public land at Bath Street and seeking reclassification of the land to community parkland.

The TFPG is urging the community to attend the council meeting at 6:30pm to emphasise their support for the petition’s intent. Councillors and staff will be meeting within the next fortnight to discuss the Bath St site and the outcomes of the community consultation process.

Since April this year the TFPG has been collecting signatures at markets and events with

Nico Marcar finalising the petition

many local businesses also providing opportunities to sign. It’s been an amazing show of community support to protect the foreshore land at Bath Street from overdevelopment.

The TFPG have been rigorous about checking the validity of signatures trying to remove duplicate or erroneous entries, and even with a small margin for unforeseen errors it’s still over 5000 rate payers whose preferences are not being considered by the majority of Councillors.

Along with the petition, a submission will be delivered to Councillors detailing the history of the site, the actions of the TFPG and the issues around progressing the Bath St Development Application. The intent is to provide Councillors and Council staff with a detailed report of the group’s understanding of Council’s proposal to allay their concerns that the group is misinformed and to also provide positive recommendations.

The online petition provided an opportunity for people to post a comment, 194 people did!

Julie “We have so little foreshore in Toronto, please keep what little we have for our community to enjoy”

Richard “The proximity of this site to the foreshore makes it unsuitable for high-rise development. Council’s should be focused on long-term community needs, such as providing and safeguarding public spaces, rather than being proponents of commercially driven developments that remove public spaces. This site should be community land.”

Annette “Foreshore land is so scarce and special for everyone. No way I say”

Robert “Public land means public land”

Michele “I believe that there should be as much open space near the waterfront as possible so that everyone can use it. I don’t believe that our council should be ‘investors ‘ , that is not its role.”

Nigel “If the local community doesn’t want it, don’t build it!”

Natalia “The foreshore and parkland are very important part of the surrounding communities, don’t get rid of public space just to bring in more people! The area is already growing rapidly and they don’t have enough public space to go around as it is, there will only be MORE need for public space if more people come live in the area. If you develop an area, please develop responsibly, not stupidly.”