CollingwoodToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected]. Please include your daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letter was sent in response to an article entitled TBM council adds conditions to BTI noise exemptions
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At some point, we will all encounter a “not in my backyard” moment.
With all that we have had to endure with COVID-19, I can understand the decision many people have made to now work from home or, in some cases, come to their second home and work remotely. For many this new “office” may have been their family’s weekend ski chalet or perhaps their summer cottage. Either way, you have decided to make Thornbury your permanent address.
Some of you may not be aware of what the big blue building on the east side of Thornbury actually does. The heavy equipment manufacturing business has been in existence for over 60 years at that location. It has employed thousands of people over its years of operations. It is also the third-largest employer in the Town of the Blue Mountains. It pays its full share of taxes and has been a supporter for the Meaford hospital (X-ray machine) and minor sports in town. Having said that, the manufacturing plant was built long before many of the houses and cottages now located on Lakeshore Drive and surrounding area were occupied full-time.
If you buy a property out in the country, you may be close to a pig farm. You cannot tell the farmer to stop raising pigs or to not clean out his barn because that smell offends you. Nor should you now complain about the noise generated by a manufacturing facility that has been operating for many years before you decided to live here.
I raise this point because, for my father, my husband and many friends and family, this facility has provided a living. We all know the hardships faced by many at the best of times and to be operating at full capacity is the necessity of every successful business.
Please be aware Astec (previously BTI) has been very co-operative in its noise reduction to surrounding property owners. Please be more aware of your surroundings. Be more supportive of the businesses that operate in town and provide us with a wage. That way we can all stay and live in this area.
It is my hope that this and all future councils will take into consideration local business needs, especially when deciding future residential developments close to any existing manufacturing facilities within the Town of the Blue Mountains.
Holly Osborne
The Blue Mountains
