Planning and Development

Planning, growth and related issues

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County protects beautiful, natural landscapes in face population growth, says planner

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Ths show:

The full interview with bonus material:

Take a drive anywhere in Northumberland County, and you are sure to come upon a beautiful landscape. We all know the rolling hills, beautiful forests, lakes, and streams.

Already the pressure is on. Within the next 30 years or sooner, Northumberland County could grow to 122,000 people. Right now, there are about 85,000. Those numbers could be surpassed much sooner as more people move to the area in record numbers. Continue Reading →

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Filed under: Consider This Northumberland, Environment, Planning and Development, Politics

Cobourg’s mayor explains council’s decision to approve a rehab centre at former Woodlawn Inn

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Woodlawn Inn

The show:

As promised last week, when I interview Cobourg Mayor John Henderson recently about the future of the Brookside Youth Detention Centre, I also took the opportunity to talk to him about plans to convert the former Woodlawn Inn – a well-known boutique hotel and restaurant on Division Street – into a residential drug and alcohol treatment centre. The company behind the proposal is the Canadian Centre for Addictions. It runs a similar facility in Port Hope. As you would expect, neighbours and others expressed deep concerns about the location. Still, the council approved the plan. Continue Reading →

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Filed under: Consider This Northumberland, Community, Planning and Development, Politics

Darling drops by for inaugural visit to Consider This Live

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Cobourg councillor Brian Darling pays his first visit to Consider This Live, sharing his experiences over the past year and what is ahead for his role as co-ordinator of building and development on the Drive Time on Northumberland 89.7 FM. Continue Reading →

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Filed under: Consider This Live, Planning and Development, Politics

A radical proposal for municipal planning

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By Robert Washburn

Here is a radical idea: Make developers pay the complete cost of getting municipal approval for their projects. It will never happen. But, it should be considered. Right now, public tax dollars are spent maintaining planning departments. Certainly, there are aspects of planning that are in the general public interest – official plans, secondary plans, bylaws, policies, etc. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Thinking Out Loud, Planning and Development

Survey reveals fascinating trends for Cobourg downtown

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By Robert Washburn

Very soon, Cobourg residents will find out if council’s $95,000 investment in a downtown revitalization project will bear some fruit. Currently, figures from two recent surveys are being crunched and the results poured over as the various experts, politicians and business leaders think about the future of the town’s core. While the final report is not complete and it will be up to the experts to provide detailed analysis, along with the final conclusions, some early results reveal interesting trends. A vast majority of Cobourg residents, about 84 per cent, visit the downtown at least once a week. Their favourite places to visit are the waterfront or a particular restaurant or shop. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Columns, Planning and Development

Testing of east pier underway

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By Robert Washburn

Cobourg’s east pier was closed Wednesday as a two-man crew undertook an electro-magnetic survey to determine how safe it is for the upcoming Waterfront Festival. Jamie Broadburn and Ryan Grinton, of TSH/TBE Subsurface Engineering in Whitby, were out early in the morning setting up their equipment to take a test to determine whether or not there are holes inside the structure known as voids in the east pier. The equipment, which looks like a very high-tech lawnmower, runs across the surface sending out a magnetic wave, similar to radar, which provides an image that can be interpreted, Bradburn said. This will help them determine how many voids there are and where they are located. “You see this kind of thing on CSI (a popular forensic sciences television show),” Bradburn said. Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Community, Planning and Development

Committee recommends apartment for condo conversion

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By Robert Washburn

The conversion of a nine-unit apartment building on Spencer Street East will not reduce the amount of affordable housing in Cobourg, the town planner said Thursday. An application from Rodger Cooper to convert the existing rental apartment at 45 Spencer Street East, on the southeast corner of John and Spencer streets, came before the planning advisory committee Wednesday. It recommends council should approve the conversion. The units will sell for approximately $115,000 to $127,000. Current tenants will not be affected by the conversion. Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Planning and Development

Proposal seeks to reduce committee members, eliminate pay

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By Robert Washburn

Proposed changes to the town’s planning committee will mean fewer members will serve longer terms and citizens will not be paid to attend, according to a report. Deputy Mayor Stan Frost said recently he wants to review all town committees are part of a major review of the town’s system of advisory bodies. In the proposal, the number of committee members drops by two, to seven from nine. There will be one less representative from town council and one less person from the public. Qualified people apply and are appointed by council. Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Planning and Development, Politics

Council approves interim solution for free parking, revisit issue in August

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By Robert Washburn

In an effort to meet deadlines and dampen council critics, Councillor Miriam Mutton introduced a series of compromises Monday night to deal with free parking passes. Following a series of recommendations from the town’s parking committee to ban all free parking passes, including town staff, Mutton came back with an interim set of motions allowing fewer free passes and some strict controls on the others to be distributed. Council approved a reduced number of parking passes to the Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club, giving them 65 to cover spaces in the immediate area for this season only. (more…) Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Community, Planning and Development