The following is a letter to the editor in response to Collingwood's current water treatment plant capacity, which has prompted the town to implement a temporary pause on new development. Plant expansion is scheduled to be complete at the end of 2025. You can read the latest on the water treatment plant capacity and development freeze here.
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Editor,
The consequences of four-to-five years of minimal growth in Collingwood presents us with a unique opportunity to take a step back and to re-evaluate what kind of community we want.
Simply stated, do we want to continue to be one of the fastest-growing communities ending up as just another characterless sprawling mall-bound town; or should we accept slower growth in the interests of remaining a town with a unique and visible historic charm and character?
The two most important numbers in our official plan are the forecasts called “population” and “employment”. These two forecasts are assigned to the Town of Collingwood by Simcoe County which, in turn, receives directives from the Province of Ontario for the growth of all of Simcoe County.
- In 2013, the Simcoe County targets for 2031 where 416,000 (population) and 132,000 (employment).
- From these Provincial targets Simcoe County assigned to Collingwood 33,400 (population) and 13,500 (employment) which are the key numbers in the town’s current official plan.
- The 2019 Provincial targets for Simcoe County were revised in 2020 and now are 555,000 (population) and 198,000 (employment) for 2051.
- The new targets for Collingwood have not yet been officially assigned as there is a municipal comprehensive review (MCR) currently underway.
These new two new numbers will be the driving force for Collingwood’s growth until the next MCR in five years.
So, this is our chance to become involved in a meaningful way and tell Simcoe County (and Collingwood) what kind of town we want. Don’t forget only Simcoe County has the formal power to assign these key growth numbers to Collingwood.
I firmly believe that any revised growth/official plan which Collingwood must produce under the provincewide MCR may attempt to paint a rosy “we are the fastest growing town in Ontario” picture without stepping back and taking a realistic look at a picture that says “smaller may be better”.
The lesson to all of us from the “Water Scandal” is that growth can come at hefty hidden costs to those who already live here who must pay for the consequence.
And keep in mind, based on a $6.9M contract already awarded to AECOM by Collingwood just for the design and overall management of a new wastewater plant that the actual total cost for the plant project could be around $60 million depending on what kind of input numbers for population AECOM was given.
Why not think about spending half this amount on a new plant and if there is money left over on making Collingwood beautiful by blending modern excitement with our incredible natural and historic environment.
For my money, and I have been paying taxes in Collingwood for over 15 years during which I have already seen the early signs of “fastest growth” such as ugly malls sprouting up and blocking our historic view of Collingwood harbour, I am firmly in the camp of “small may be better”.
The growth freeze coming at the same time as the MCR has given us a unique opportunity to call on the county and town to take a step back and to look at what is best for Collingwood now and in the future, and what we want the town to look like in the years ahead.
I urge you to not let this incredible opportunity go by without speaking up. Tell all, whether or not they want to listen, that small may be better.
Ulli Rath
Collingwood, ON
