Cobourg Planning Department Calls New Rules Unfair

John Draper

On March 30, the Ford Government introduced Bill 109 to reform the processes governing municipal approvals of new housing.  Comments were requested with a deadline of April 29 – however, the bill was fast-tracked through Parliament and received Royal assent on April 14.  But Cobourg’s Director of Planning, Anne Taylor Scott, was not happy with some of the changes and submitted a report to Council at Monday’s Committee of the Whole with the intent of meeting the April 29 comment deadline.  There are two main concerns: 1) late approvals will mean fees charged to applicants must be refunded (details below) and 2) the Provincial Minister will get more power to over-rule decisions by the Town.  Councillors were also concerned that… Read complete articleCobourg Planning Department Calls New Rules Unfair

GO Bus Coming to Cobourg

John Draper

For almost two decades, Cobourg and Port Hope residents have been asking for GO Transit to extend their service to Cobourg.  Up until recently, Metrolinx has said that there is not a business case even though they only want 20% of costs covered since Transit is generally subsidized.  The biggest potential number of riders would be by workers commuting to Toronto – these have often gone by VIA but currently VIA has no trains at times suitable for commuting (see Resources below).  But today, MPP David Piccini announced that starting in July, 2022, there will be an on-demand GO bus service connecting all of Northumberland.  The Bus will be “On-Demand” and not a fixed route and will connect to the… Read complete articleGO Bus Coming to Cobourg

Update on Program to Mitigate Marina Pollution

John Draper

Many of the big news items these days are about the Environment: electric cars, energy issues, unusual weather, climate change and pollution.  Enough people in the Town spoke up about this that the Town declared a Climate Emergency and established an advisory Committee.  Major projects are under way to decide what Cobourg can do on this issue but meanwhile action was taken on an issue mentioned less often: Pollution.  One pollution issue of particular concern is plastic waste in water bodies such as Oceans and Lake Ontario.  In October 2020, in conjunction with “Pollution Probe”, Cobourg installed a Seabin (and some LittaTraps) – see report in Links below.  And it’s still in operation!  At the next CoW meeting on 19… Read complete articleUpdate on Program to Mitigate Marina Pollution

Food Trucks planned to replace Canteen in 2022

John Draper

One of the changes planned for Cobourg’s Victoria Park Beach is to “re-purpose” the Canteen/ Washroom building by closing the Canteen and expanding the washrooms.  For many years, the canteen was run by the same contractor but then in 2018 and 2019, the owners of Market and Smor had a try at providing the service.  They wanted to offer healthy food – but that did not fly (it appears).  They also had a friend operate a chip truck there. In the end they gave up just as the pandemic arrived.  After the comprehensive review of how to manage the Waterfront, Council decided that instead of a Canteen, food trucks would instead provide the service.  An RFP was issued early 2022… Read complete articleFood Trucks planned to replace Canteen in 2022

Covid-19 April Update

John Draper

The good news is that most Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted; the bad news is that the virus is not going away so as Dr. Natalie Bocking, the HKPR Medical officer of Health put it, we have to learn to live “alongside” it.  At a regular briefing to the media on April 6, Dr. Bocking was not alarmist but pointed to a resurgence of cases in the District.  She attributed this to measures being lifted and the new BA-2 variant which spreads even more easily and is becoming dominant.  The goal remains “to avoid it being a big strain on our health system” so they can do their regular job of looking after other health issues. Also announced yesterday was… Read complete articleCovid-19 April Update

Update on Cobourg’s Beach

John Draper

During the past year or so, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee (PRAC) and Council have come up with plans for Cobourg’s Beach.  Covid-19 meant that crowding was a problem so access to the beach was limited and it was even closed for a while.  At the next meeting of the PRAC on April 5, the agenda includes a spreadsheet that lists the “recommendations (provided) for council’s consideration”.  Many of the recommendations have been implemented – but not all, or if they have, they have not been made public.  The agenda item has Teresa Behan’s name on it – she is Manager of Recreation and Waterfront Operations.  The “recommendations” cover Communications, Amenities, Bylaws and enforcement, Events, Safety, Parking and more. … Read complete articleUpdate on Cobourg’s Beach

Third 401 Interchange Planned

John Draper

With the development at the north end of Brook road now moving ahead, also moving forward is planning for a third interchange with the 401 at Nagle Road. Currently, Nagle Road has a bridge over the highway but no access to the 401. Starting in 2017, MTO started the process to plan upgrading the 401 to 6 and ultimately 8 lanes from Cobourg to Colborne (more in Resources below). This will involve rehabilitating or more likely replacing seven bridges; the process starts with an Environmental Assessment (EA) which looks at natural, social, economic and cultural issues and includes public consultation. The Nagle Road Interchange is a separate project and is a Town initiative but will also require an EA, so… Read complete articleThird 401 Interchange Planned

Taxi Fuel Surcharge Approved

John Draper

As reported two weeks ago, Council approved new higher fares for Cobourg’s Taxis – but they deferred a decision on a fuel surcharge.  Taxi owners are struggling to break even and gas at around $1.70/litre is not helping. At the Council meeting on March 14, Council asked staff to report back at the next Committee of the Whole meeting (CoW) and that was tonight (March 28).  Brent Larmer provided the report but left a decision to Council.  His report said that only a few municipalities on the East Coast have implemented a fuel surcharge but that if a surcharge were to be implemented that taxi meters should be recalibrated and the recommended $1 should be added to the pick-up charge. … Read complete articleTaxi Fuel Surcharge Approved