Rowden’s published response to recent column

This is an excerpt from a column by Councillor Forrest Rowden entitled: Please abide by Town bylaws

I would like to let you know that I do support dog owners in the Town of Cobourg. I have been working with Councillor Larry Sherwin (not Jay Sherwin as columnist Robert Washburn indicated in last week’s column) for the last three years to secure a suitable off-leash site so that no one is in violation of any bylaws. The conservation area, also known as James Cockburn Park, is a park for everyone and not just a ‘dog park’. All conservation areas within the Ganaraska Region Conservation Area allow dogs to walk with their owners on leash only, which has been a rule of the GRCA for quite some time. Cobourg Council is trying to accommodate all types of users, which is why we have a library, a skating rink downtown, Legion and soccer fields, walking and bike trails, and bicycle lanes for cyclists to feel safer when riding on our streets. Our new dog park will not cost any more than any of these types of uses, and I am sure it will be well used.

I would like the public to know that Mr. Washburn may have not gotten all his facts straight. Election or not I will defend the work I do as a councillor, here is a list of committees I am involved with as Protection Service co-ordinator: Police Services Board, Fire Service, Bylaw Committee, Waterfront Trails Committee, Lakefront Utilities Committee, chair of the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority, and am a member of Conservation Ontario. Plus I volunteer for a couple of charity fundraisers and the Museum when I can.

The original full version appeared here on April 13, 2014

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