Category: News 2019

Final Cultural Plan presented to Council

John Draper

At the Committee of the Whole Council Meeting on 15 October, Consultants MDB Insights will present the “final” Cultural Plan for approval (see link below).  A draft was presented to the public for comment online and at a meeting on 5 September and I estimated 42 citizens came out.  The presentation mostly talks about what was done to create the document with a limited number of recommendations.  As described in the Public meeting, 6 strategic Directions are suggested but most of the plan is about what the role is for the Town and how Cultural activities should be directed.  There were no recommendations on hard questions such as: “should the Park Theatre be purchased and restored?”; “exactly how much money… Read complete articleFinal Cultural Plan presented to Council

Natural Waterfront Park proposed

John Draper

At the next Committee of the Whole meeting, the Sustainability and Climate Change Advisory Committee (SCCAC) will recommend to Council that a natural heritage waterfront park be created. This would comprise “the westerly part of the Cobourg harbour and water front lands” as described in a presentation to the committee by Richard Pope of the Willow Beach Field Naturalists.  Richard also presented to Heritage, Parks and Rec, and Planning committees and told me that “none of the four committees had objections and all planned to notify Council of this and/or actively support it. Many individuals on the committees were very enthusiastic.”  As Richard notes, apart from the inclusion of the west harbour, this idea was recommended by both the Parks… Read complete articleNatural Waterfront Park proposed

Key Questions Raised at All-Candidates Meeting

John Draper

About 70 people came to the all-candidates debate at the Cobourg Lions Community Centre last night.  Hosted by Retired Teachers Ontario, all five candidates responded to 16 questions as well as giving opening and closing statements.  Moderated by York Bell-Smith with time limits enforced, it was orderly and informative since the questions covered a good range of concerns.  If you haven’t already heard, the Candidates are: Liberal Kim Rudd – incumbent M.P.; Conservative  Philip Lawrence; Green Party Jeff Wheeldon; NDP Mallory MacDonald and People’s Party of Canada (PPC) Frank Vaughan.  See the links below for more on these candidates.  After the opening statements, each candidate was asked to respond to three questions posed by the Retired Teachers; these focused on… Read complete articleKey Questions Raised at All-Candidates Meeting

Cobourg’s Christmas Decorative Street Lights

John Draper

Called Curly Q’s and added to light poles downtown, these lights have been a feature of downtown for the last few years in Cobourg.  At the budget sessions for this year, Councillors removed their support for them but at last night’s Council meeting, Councillor Adam Bureau asked for them to be re-instated.    He said that the Ad Hoc Christmas lights committee and the DBIA both liked the idea.  Adam’s motion said: “since it gets dark earlier in the winter season the Curly Q’s add more light to our beautiful Downtown and will add additional safety and a better atmosphere for Tourism, but most of all for our residents”. The DBIA also said they will contribute $9,000 towards the cost of… Read complete articleCobourg’s Christmas Decorative Street Lights

Busy Saturday in Cobourg

John Draper

Every Saturday for most of the year, Cobourg has a Farmers market but this year there were several other events held downtown simultaneously.  King Street was closed for Harvest Festival which you might think had the products of Harvests – instead there were mostly street vendors since the Farmers’ market was still operating (see link below). The Harvest Festival also included  the popular Chili “cook-off” (winner King Street Deli and Bar) complete with entertainment (see photo below). But in addition, there was also the Art Walk and the Cornerstone fund-raising event “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes”.  The Art Walk meant that several stores had the works of local artists on display in their windows but there were not as… Read complete articleBusy Saturday in Cobourg

Climate Change Demonstration in Cobourg

John Draper

Your intrepid reporter missed an event in Cobourg today but I received a report from Warren McCarthy. We all heard about the Swedish school girl Greta Thunberg eloquently addressing the United Nations asking us not to ruin the planet for the next generation. School children then staged nationwide strikes with a particularly large crowd in Montreal. Cobourg students were not to be left out as you can see in the photos. The demonstration was in front of Cobourg’s Town Hall at around noon. So in lieu of my report, here is what Warren sent me. “I think 130-140 people, several speakers including the young girl with the floral headband. “Blue Dot & Sustainable Cobourg were visible. “Green Party & Kim… Read complete articleClimate Change Demonstration in Cobourg

Harbour Safety Audit Concerns

John Draper

At Monday’s Committee of the Whole Council meeting, the results of a Safety Audit of the Harbour were presented.  Also on the Agenda was a presentation by Jeremy Fowlie of the Dragon Boat and Canoe club who strongly criticized the “Audit” and said that implementing the recommendations would mean the club would need to shut down.  Councillors Adam Bureau and Nicole Beatty (and others) asked leading questions – there was clearly a major concern by citizens, notably harbour user groups, and some suggestion that the Town was against club activities in the Harbour.  In response, Dean Hustwick made an impassioned defence of the “audit” and his staff.  This report will try to present both sides of the conflict which generated… Read complete articleHarbour Safety Audit Concerns

Summary of Marathon Council Meeting

John Draper

It started at 5:00 pm on Monday with a public meeting to hear about a draft plan of subdivision for 425 King Street.  The full gallery was mostly concerned about Molly Baker Lane which all agreed is a wonderful Natural Heritage location.  It runs along the southern edge of the development and after hearing from citizens in April, details were altered including keeping more trees and ensuring there were no drainage problems.  Any remaining concerns were said to be something that would be resolved at the detailed engineering stage.  Residents were encouraged to keep in touch with planning staff to get details.  At the following Committee of the Whole, Council agreed that the project should proceed. But there were many… Read complete articleSummary of Marathon Council Meeting