Resident surprised at “fear mongering” over Heritage District Plan

March 19, 2014 · 0 Comments

(Re: Politics as Usual & Brock’s Banter, March 13, 2014)

I read with interest Alison Collins Mrakas’ column and both agree and disagree with her comments.
I agree the consultation process was lacking, particularly in advising the residents in the area under discussion as to the advantages of heritage designation.
I disagree, however, that “the proposed south east Aurora heritage district is dead in the water” or that “it will in all likelihood not proceed.” I feel once the benefits of designation are properly explained the majority will embrace the concept.
I also attended Council on March 4, 2014 and was quite surprised and taken aback by the amount of misinformation, fear mongering and, to put it politely, the outright untruths put forward by the delegates in opposition of the plan.
I agree with Brock in his Brock’s Banter column that these delegates “did not reflect a full picture of feelings in the area.” I too could not understand why proponents of the plan “decided to sit on their hands and not express their views”, or why Council did not request the consultant Carl Bray to address some of the misinformation.
I am pleased that Council has not decided, as yet, to shelve this project but to have a further public information meeting.
This will hopefully address some of the erroneous information that is circulating and give the residents the facts regarding designation so that they can make an informed decision as to whether this is what they want for their neighborhood.

Graham Wride
Aurora