A major residential / commercial / resort complex is being proposed in Port Glasgow by Seaside Waterfronts Inc. The proposed development consists of approximately 35 ha (86 acres) of residential and approximately 3 ha (7.5 acres) of commercial use concentrated in Lot 6, Con XIV and extending into Lot 5, Con XIV.    It would contain a variety of dwelling types ranging from single unit detached dwellings to four unit dwellings including live-work establishments and apartments over ground floor commercial uses. In the village core would be developed a limited service inn and spa, boutiques and shops, restaurants and pubs and a village square. Public facilities would include an outdoor amphitheatre and a community centre with a performing arts centre, plus community pools and a new lighthouse. 

Dwellings would be constructed to fit into a village theme and would include singles, two storey, multilevel units and quads along with three storey live-work units along the main street (i.e. Havens Lake Road). The development will be designed to encourage and facilitate pedestrian and bicycle access, offering lakeviews and trails/walkways that connect to the shoreline, to Memorial Park and to Grey Line along Sixteen Mile Creek.

The natural heritage of the area would be protected and where possible enhanced and the agricultural heritage of the area incorporated into the community design. A winery will be sought to establish a vineyard on adjoining lands. Construction is planned to be phased over a five year period starting in 2009.  

While the lands being proposed for the development are designated ‘Lakeshore Recreation’ in the Official Plan of the former Township of Aldborough, modifications to the new Official Plan for West Elgin recently adopted by Council are being considered to accommodate the development and the proponents will have to demonstrate that the proposed development is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement. 

While the area being proposed for development is serviced by the existing municipal water supply system, a new sanitary sewage system will be required. It is intended that this new sewage system will be designed to service both the proposed development and the existing Port Glasgow community. A Class Environmental Assessment (Class EA), commissioned by the Municipality of West Elgin and paid for by Seaside Developments Inc., is underway. This Class EA will define the area in Port Glasgow to be serviced, formulate and assess project alternatives, and identify a preferred solution. 

A PRELIMINARY PUBLIC MEETING will be held on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4th , 2008, 7:00 p.m., at the Dance Hall in the Port Glasgow Trailer Park, 8650 Furnival Road, Port Glasgow. The purpose of the meeting will be to outline the proposed development; improvements being considered on adjoining lands owned by the Municipality of West Elgin and the Port Glasgow Yacht Club and review the Class EA planning process to be completed for the proposed sanitary sewage system. The meeting is intended as a preliminary public meeting in accordance with Planning Act and Municipal Class EA requirements. Further opportunities for public consultation will be provided as the proposed development evolves and the Class EA planning proposed for the sewage system proceeds. 

PUBLIC INPUT AND COMMENT ARE INVITED, for incorporation into the planning and design of this project. For more information on this project, please contact the Municipality of West Elgin.  

 This NOTICE issued August 14, 2008, by the Municipality of West Elgin. 

 Ms. Joanne Groch, Administrator/Treasurer 

THE MUNICIPALITY OF WEST ELGIN 

22413 Hoskins Line, PO Box 490 

Rodney, Ontario   N0L 2C0 

Phone:  (519) 785-0560      Fax:  (519) 785-0644 

E-mail:  wstelgin@execulink.com

Please add missing business, churches, community organizations.

 We define the Wardsville area (both sides of the river from Woodgreen to Cashmere):

Beattie Haven Inc.

Big Bend Conservation Authority

Big Flag Mini Storage, Newbury  (You can almost see our flag from Wardsville.)

Canada Post office.

Coyote Ridge Riding Centre

CPE Services Ltd.

Creative Designs by Cindy Jones Trudell

Communities in Bloom Committee

Dave’s Café

Ed’s Bait and Tackle Shop

Four Counties Transit Service

Jackie Reavely Realty

Knapps Farm Service Inc.

McNaughton Automotive & Home Building Centre

McNaughton Realty

Municipality of Southwest Middlesex

Municipality of West Elgin

Neville Fruit Farm

Quad County Support Services -

Ross Auto Repair

Russ Patton Backhoe Service

Sandalwood and Patchouli Natural Therapies

Shamrock Dining Lounge

St. John’s Presbyterian Church

Thamesville Community Credit Union

Thames Talbot Land Trust

Wardsville Fire Department

Wardsville Public Library, Middlesex Library System

Wardsville Tire Sales

Wardsville United Church

West Elgin Field Naturalists

Wheat Juice grower

With Wardsville’s adventurous history and that Community Hall sitting sad and quiet, we are dreaming of investors and theatre ideas.  Here’s somebody who is cooking up a fantastic idea that WILL happen.  This is part of a proposal that is floating around.  Fanshawe village upstream is very interested.  Stay tuned…

The story of Dr. Charles Duncombe, his loyal friend Charles Tilden and a 12 year old boy named Richard Shenick. The story centers around their daring escape during the Rebellion of 1837 chronicled in an essay by John C.Higgins and presented to the Middlesex-London Historical Society in 1964.  It’s a people story that resonates still today. It’s about the immigrants of early pioneers in south western Ontario who were seeking a better life. In those days they faced a rigid system of government that excluded them from meaningful power-sharing. Resistence was difficult and punishment severe. People today continue to struggle for human rights and will recognize through this chapter in our history such struggles have always existed.

 
The story starts with Dr. Charles Duncombe whose frustrated efforts to improve the educational school system leads him to become the leader in 1837 of 300 rebellious farmers near Scotland, Ontario. The farmers were so poorly armed that blacksmiths were making spears for those without guns until a supply of guns and ammunition hidden in the cellar of a barn just south of London could be picked up before the attack! The rebels disperse after William Lyon MacKenzie loses at Montgomery’s Tavern and Dr. Duncombe becomes a fugitive with a price on his head.

After a daring escape plan which takes him through Wardsville he eventually lands in Detroit aided by friend Charles Tilden, Mrs. Hitchcock (Tilden’s sister) and a 12 year old boy named Richard Shenick. At that point the plan falls apart and 12 year old Richard Shenick can not return home or risk capture for aiding a fugitive. Instead Richard is placed with a family with just 6 cents in his pocket to face an unknown future. Over time he becomes a leading citizen and entrepreuneur through his own skill and hard work. He is still celebrated and remembered in Lexington Michigan as an important pioneer in their community.

 
This story of adventure, courage and suspense works on many levels. The back drop - the political unrest leading to the Rebellion - is an important chapter in local history as it led to the establishment of a British garrison in London located at present-day Victoria Park.

This story has inspired a theatre project. The goal is to take history to the people. It is a living, colourful, action-packed version of history - a convincing re-creation of the world of 1837 inhabited by people who think, feel, talk and act in a manner consistent with their own time in history.  This proposed project undertakes the following goals:

 
Part One
An “environmental theatre” presentation at Fanshawe Pioneer Village to bring to life this chapter from the pages of history - a heroic, courageous and dangerous escapade that happened right here in our own neighbourhood. This stage includes researching and fostering a partnership with heritage advocates in other communities including Wardsville, St. Thomas and Sanilac County Michigan to celebrate the rich, shared heritage of Ontario and Michigan. This can be achieved through the creation of exhibitions at sites, shared programming and joint publicity.
 
Part Two
A representative re-creation of the dangerous journey almost 200 years ago from London to Lexington past costumed military sentinels along the route. The “trek” will draw on volunteers from local historical societies, re-enactors and citizens along the route. The goal is to attract wide media attention and engage people in their own history.
 
Part Three
An educational resource kit based on Rebellion of 1837 studies which are part of Ministry of Education curriculum for grade 7 students. To include a short video and visuals to be incorporated by teachers into Smart Boards. These are increasingly popular and installed in almost all schools in the Thames Valley District School Board. Kit may include a text book in graphic novel format which educators and librarians advise is the most popular with today’s young readers.
 
Part Four
A “Heritage” style Minute for broadcast on regional and local television.

 
Stay tuned.  Mary Simpson and Ken Willis attended an early visioning meeting in July 2008 to help the visionary, Nancy Johnson, think through the logistics.  Wardsville is an important stop on the escape route. Can Wardsville help this project come to life?  

Submitted by Mary Simpson

 Small towns are going to re-emerge.There is a reason why small towns loom so large in our imaginations – they are a powerful ideal where everyone knows one another and shares a sense of community. Many boomers are going to seek out this ideal, looking for towns that are growing, have a vital downtown, plentiful recreational opportunities, and a charming appearance.  

 Cultural centers are going to be popular One form of this is already taking off, with many universities across the country either participating in or permitting developers to build “university-affiliated” developments. These particularly appeal to alumni and former faculty who would like to live in their old college town. The college courses, atmosphere, and sports events that they can participate in provide a rich experience. (see Penn State Village Review). Another development idea that is going to be strong with baby boomers is the idea of communities that are built around culture. A good example of this is the Burbank (CA) Senior Artists Colony (see Review). The Colony is designed as a community where artists or would be artists can develop their arts amidst like-minded neighbors. This trend has the support of many professionals who believe that creative engagement is vital to prolonging mental faculties.  Mary Simpson and Denise Corneil

Fred Knight says….Frednuary 10, 2008 at 5:08 am Edit

Boys and their toys a deadly combination, doctor says

Katie Rook, National Post

Published: Tuesday July 22, 2008

A University of Alberta researcher is calling for a national injury-reduction strategy as the number of people being killed or injured on ever-popular all-terrain vehicles in the province soars.

The public now accepts as inevitable serious collisions involving young men on ATVs who have had too much to drink, Dr. Louis Francescutti said in an interview yesterday.

“There is a lot of money flowing in the province. There are a lot of young males in the province who are bored. You combine those things together to buy these toys, and live fast, party fast and die fast is the rule of thumb in Alberta these days,” he said.

The public’s resignation to such a reality reflects a failure on the part of citizens and politicians to acknowledge the province’s high rate of ATV-related injuries and deaths is largely preventable, he said.

“Injuries are so prevalent in Canadian society that we’ve become desensitized to them. We expect there to be three people killed in Toronto with gunshots; every long weekend in Canada we expect 100 people to die on our roadways. So, we’ve come to expect these things,” Dr. Francescutti said.

“If we were to view injuries similarly to how we view other diseases, then we would do something about it. But, unfortunately, politicians and Canadians have this fatalistic attitude: ‘It was an accident, a freak accident, time is up, ticket’s up, wrong place at the wrong time …’ “

Last Saturday, a 24-year-old Alberta man was killed in an ATV collision in a provincial park. While there is no evidence to suggest that alcohol played a role in the accident, the man is one of dozens of young people in Alberta to be killed in ATV-related incidents.

Between 2002 and 2006, 64 Albertans were killed in ATVrelated collisions, a report by Alberta’s Centre for Injury Control and Research states.

Of those fatalities, 91% were male. More than half of the collision victims tested had consumed alcohol, while 81% of the men tested were over the legal limit, the 2008 report says.

“There is a minority of knuckleheads out there whose idea of a good time is letting the wind blow through your hair while you’re liquored on a Friday night. That’s a pattern we usually see here on a Friday night. People doing stupid things and paying the consequences,” Dr. Francescutti said.

“You can’t blame the machine. I mean, these machines are designed pretty well. You’ve got to blame the operator.”

Figures from Statistics Canada show that in 2004, Quebec reported 64 ATV-related deaths, while 41 people in Ontario died. In both New Brunswick and Alberta, 11 people died.

But as amendments to rules and regulations governing the use ATVs — especially among youths — have brought down the number of fatalities in provinces such as Quebec, the popularity of the machines continues to grow.

A report from the Canadian Off Highway Vehicle Distributors Council states that in 2007 about 171,000 new units of motorcycles and ATVs were sold at an estimated retail value of $2-billion. ATVs accounted for the majority of the units sold.

Raynald Marchand, general manager with the Canadian Safety Council, notes that the rate of injury per [registered] 10,000 ATVs has improved over the past 10 years. “In a way, today, we are safer with ATVs as a whole then we were. However, because we have a lot more out there, from the physicians point of view, he still sees too many.”

Dr. Francescutti, who is also an emergency room doctor, believes policy change will come only when elected officials better acknowledge that many injuries are predictable and preventable. “There are thousands of these [incidents] that go on across the country on an hourly basis. It’s insane that we just sit back and claim that we’re civilized; that there’s no public uproar,” he said.

http://www.canada.com/globaltv/ontario/story.html?id=d8d4cdd8-cf3c-4057-b9df-c1bc9d300a08 

 ©National Post 2008

ATV’s are a fact of life in our mechanized world. The problem is they are sold to people who don’t have any land of their own to ride on. So they go looking for private/public land, but in Southwestern Ontario, the land is becoming so valuable as our population continues to grow exponentially. Not only is land getting expensive, so little of it is preserved to serve its ecological function of cleaning our air and water that we are quickly restricting ATV/motorbike access in order to preserve what little land left due to the loss of land from urban sprawl.

The snowmobilers are very organized and INSURED. This is a huge bone of contention. If ATVers drive on private property, even with out consent, and they get hurt or killed they can sue the landowner. So who want’s that liability??? No one. So the ATVers need to get organized in a large enough group thay they can buy land of their own or an insurance plan that removes liability from the landowner (like what the snowmobliers have)in case they get hurt (which happens all the time since there are no driver licensing requirements)and then they can approach landowners to make a deal to ride on their land.In time.

If ATVers don’t get more organized, I foresee more bans and laws inhibiting the use of these machines except on your own land, and even then, if your land is classified as wetland or has endangered species on it, you won’t be able to ride there either.

In Southwestern Ontario, ATV use is going to have less and less fun attached to a $10,000 purchase. Save your money and take a vaction or plan on travelling elsewhere to use it.

Terry Keep

Beattie Haven and Quad County are asking for community support by

providing a prize donation or

sponsoring a hole at $100.00 or

bringing a foursome to play. 

Please come and enjoy the day with your friends on our beautiful Wardsville course.

Thursday, July 17, 2008 – Beattie Haven Retirement Home and Quad County Support Services Charity Golf Tournament – Wardsville Golf Club, Wardsville, ON. 

Format: Scramble - 4 person,

Registration 10-1030am: Shotgun start: 11:00am; Dinner: 5pm (roast beef) , Entry fee: $75 per person; Includes 18 holes of golf, riding cart, roast beef dinner, bottled water, & snacks.  Excellent prize table.  

Note individual golfer registrations welcome.  For more information please contact check out our website at www.beattiehaven .com or call Beattie Haven at 519-693-4901.

Thanking you in advance.

Yours truly,

Beattie Haven and Quad County Support Services

Despite outmigration, rising energy costs, and other issues plaguing rural and small town Canada, our villages and rural neighbourhoods are determined to survive.

So let’s support them and save ourselves some money by being tourists in our own backyard this summer.  Scan the newspapers, brochures, and web-sites for the attractions close by that you’ve never taken the time to visit.  Invite your friends and family from the city; then haul them off to a celebration near by.

This weekend, it’s Wardsville Kin Day on June 21, 2008 and they are bringing back the Old Fashioned Strawberry Social.  Catch Dave’s Cafe open mike JAM session on Main Street. Cheer on the potato sack races. Watch Greg Simpson’s Weird and Wacky Science Show at 2:00 p.m.   At 3:00 p.m., there is a Kids Talent Show hosted by Tony Bycraft and “Healing Tones” that will support literacy reading kits for third world countries.  Or just go golfing.

The details can be googled at Wardsville Kin Day or your can turn up sometime between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Our American friends are not crossing over to visit, so we have to stay home, relax, and take their place.  Every weekend, take a holiday and enjoy beautiful southwestern Ontario.  By the way, those of you who love to entertain and have a great big house with extra bedrooms, think about the B&B business.  We need some more accommodations for our out-of-town guests.

Mary Simpson
Board Member, Community Futures Development Corporation of Middlesex County

Denise Corneil
Facilitator, Your Wardsville project.