BarrieToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected] or via the website. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following is an open letter to Mayor Alex Nuutall and Coun. Jim Harris is in reference to 'Rally planned to make waves over sports field at Barrie waterfront,' published May 22.
It is greatly encouraging to us in the community that at least some media are recognizing that this matter is not yet final.
Opposition to the project has a foundation in facts, not merely emotion. You and your online publication are helping the residents of Barrie by permitting continued discussion of this subject.
Although there are legitimate environmental objections to the new artificial surface replacing an existing natural surface, the environmental concerns are only the starting point of misgivings by a rapidly growing number Barrie residents.
This sports field will be fenced-off. It will bar entry to the people of Barrie who do not have an organized relationship to that sports field. This is a highly exclusionary act. Such treatment is the opposite of what is required at this exceptional public waterfront setting.
Presently, any person, young or old, family or individual, can walk through the wilderness/meadow area without cost or team membership. The large sports field space will become closed to (broad) public use. This action effectively reduces the size of an already small remaining patch of natural landscape at the waterfront.
Astonishingly, this reduction in park size is being made at the same time of imminent residential intensification of the downtown and Allandale area. You have yourself seen and reported on the many upcoming condominium and other multi-plex residential developments within walking distance.
Tens of thousands of newcomers are going to be joining us soon to make downtown Barrie their permanent new home. These high-density developments will not give newcomers the traditional backyards that most people in Barrie have enjoyed in the past. Such newcomers have a greater need for unencumbered outdoor space that is not privately controlled, not organized as to use, and walkable.
The proposed sports field development is tantamount to withdrawing land from public use inventory, exactly where it will be most required in coming years.
Furthermore, the enhanced GO service to Barrie is making our waterfront an increasingly popular destination for visitors from Toronto. The majority of these visitors will not have the right to use (or be in anyway served by) the proposed sports field.
The current woodland and meadow is within walking distance from the Allandale Waterfront GO station. It is “inclusive” to everyone, not “exclusive” for the small number of people who would be allowed to use it in the proposed development.
Unfortunately, in every generation, there are some people on council who have the “itch” to develop every available open space. Our current mayor is emerging as a representative of this way of thinking. He, and like-minded persons, do not grasp that some unbuilt land is a use in its own right.
In other words, unorganized open space that is free to use by anyone at any time, without cost or membership constraints, is a purpose. It is not “undeveloped” – it is preserved from further development. This is a key distinction and key insight.
This parcel of land is already serving its intended purpose perfectly. It does not need to be altered.
The additional irony is that there are local schools who have already publicly stated a desire to host sports field facilities. It is a travesty that an irreplaceable waterfront 'naturescape' would be destroyed when alterative locations are calling out to be utilized. Those alternative locations are well-suited. They have ample parking, ample space for spectators and special events, an existing constituent population of potential users (school attendees), washrooms and other amenities.
Within our community, we reiterate our thanks to you for treating this story as deserving of coverage. Many of us in Barrie were caught by surprise by this looming disaster. Much prior effort has been made to safeguard this precious waterfront resource.
You will recall that we nearly lost the same land recently to a baseball stadium of all things. Trendy development pressures will continue for so long as influencers and some politicians are more dazzled by the optics of a flashy project of the moment than understanding the quiet of a thoughtfully set-aside nature refuge for the long term.
Unfortunately, the creatures who inhabit this natural setting cannot speak for themselves, nor can the thousands of visitors to this waterfront setting who do not happen to be plugged into the political machinations that cause these occasional potential development disasters.
As a closing thought, consider this: Our waterfront natural landscape is a deeply appreciated gift from our forebearers. People throughout Barrie feel this way about the waterfront. Every mature tree represents an act of caring by those who came before us, either by planting it or allowing it to remain unmolested. The unbuilt open spaces are a treasure.
We owe a great debt of gratitude for the foresight of earlier decision-makers who conceived of the re-naturalization concept. We are the beneficiaries of this wisdom.
Why betray their efforts now, and make their emotional maturity a wasted exercise? Their maturity was manifest in the preservation of something for ensuring generations rather than consuming everything in the present moment.
Are we worthy of their foresight? Will our descendants have reason to appreciate our own restraint – for their sake?
Eric Lehner
Barrie
