Well folks, I’m glad to have the opportunity to talk about the advancement of our town once again.
In my last column I told you about the Region’s plan for Development Charges [D.C.’s] and the negative impact it would have on Halton Hills. Well, Mayor Bonnette as well as Regional Councillors Fogal and Somerville did take our case to the Region and have obtained some success. We do have some leeway now on DC’s in the warehousing and distribution sectors but this is not enough. The same perspective must apply to manufacturing and technology. It is these sectors that produce the jobs we so desperately need in Halton Hills.
We all know about the gridlock we experience in getting out of town to go to work in Brampton, Mississauga, and now, to some extent Milton. Well, one answer is home grown jobs. Let’s try to work, live and play in Halton Hills and to make that happen we need to attract industrial/commercial growth. That is the Region MUST reconsider their position and lower the DC’s not raise them. We need to be competitive with our surrounding communities.
On that subject, we have hired a new Economic Development Officer. Lifetime Georgetown resident Doug Penrice has been appointed to that position and we welcome him to the town. Doug has impressive credentials in the real estate industry and having lived here all his life brings extensive knowledge of our town to this very important position.
We also continue to advance in other areas. I will Chair the Committee to study intensification in Halton Hills. This starts today and will continue for some months. I do not propose to go into this in detail today but will report back to you as progress is made.
Several growth strategies are being studied as we speak and I will also be able to bring these more to the forefront as talks continue.
That is all the space I have for now but I will be publishing several more articles on a regular basis and in invite you to contact me for any discussion you may wish to have.
John Duncan,
Councillor,Ward 4, Town of Halton Hills.
I can be reached at:
P: 905-873-6041
C: 905-703-1818
Email: johnaduncan@sympatico.ca