{"id":17861,"date":"2017-07-19T16:02:38","date_gmt":"2017-07-19T20:02:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=17861"},"modified":"2017-07-19T16:02:38","modified_gmt":"2017-07-19T20:02:38","slug":"residents-developers-to-hammer-out-highland-gate-park-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/residents-developers-to-hammer-out-highland-gate-park-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Residents, developers to hammer out Highland Gate park plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

After a week\u2019s cooling off period, residents surrounding the former Highland Gate Golf Course will work with developers to come up with a park solution that is hoped will work for everyone.
\nThe collaborative effort was announced last week following a particularly heated process which has seen groups of neighbours lock horns with other groups of neighbours \u2013 not to mention Highland Gate Developments Inc. (HGDI) and the Town of Aurora \u2013 on amenities best suited for a 21 acre piece of land slated for park development.
\n\u201cI think it is fair to say the debate over specific elements of the park has led to a breakdown of the fellowship that normally characterises our community,\u201d said Susan Walmer on behalf of the Highland Gate Ratepayers\u2019 Association (HGRA) last week.
\nA new ad-hoc committee between the Ratepayers and other nearby residents not affiliated with the Ratepayers\u2019 Group, along with representatives from HGDI will be the first step in restoring some of that dialogue and, indeed, fellowship.
\nAt the heart of the contention are a set of amenities set to be installed in the park. These amenities are outlined in Minutes of Settlement executed between HGDI, HGRA, and the Town of Aurora. The subject of considerable debate in particular is the plan to illuminate the trail cutting across the park linking Bathurst and Yonge Streets, but neither the developers nor the Ratepayers\u2019 Association were willing to take those out of the agreement in case it opened the entire document up for renegotiation.
\n\u201cOur respective missions are to represent the interests of our membership and to provide a forum for the expression of concerns and ideas within our community,\u201d said Ms. Walmer, noting the ad-hoc group\u2019s mission will be to \u201cdesign this community park in accordance with all the requirements of the Minutes of Settlement and the technical requirements and limitations of the Town of Aurora, while representing the needs and desires of all homeowners in the community.\u201d
\nThe group will be comprised of two members of HGRA and two members representing the remaining residents.
\n\u201cIts mandate is to resolve to the general satisfaction of all, the final details of the park and this Committee will work towards that goal over the next two weeks,\u201d she said. \u201cWe hope and trust the Director [of Parks and Recreation Al Downey] will be responsive to our plan, subject only to the technical requirements and limitations of the Town of Aurora. Our goal is to resolve the outstanding issues, particularly the lighting concern, with the assistance of Highland Gate development consultants and create a truly beautiful park that combines the natural surroundings of the area with the needs of the community and the Town.\u201d
\nMs. Walmer was joined at the podium by Joanne Bartholomew, who spoke out against the lighting and other park amenities at the previous week\u2019s Committee meeting. Speaking on behalf of what she described as \u201c100-plus people\u201d who came together to address the concerns of homeowners, she said she was happy with the latest developments.
\n\u201cWe are delighted to be working with the Highland Gate Ratepayers Association as we put our heads together to come up with an alternate plan for the lighting than the one that presently exists,\u201d said Ms. Bartholomew. \u201cOur focus will be to mitigate the effects of the lighting, while at the same time enhancing the absolute beauty and uniqueness of this special piece of parkland.
\n\u201cI think I can speak for everyone in the Highlands community when I say we are all looking forward to the completion and beautifying of this park so that we can all get on with enjoying the trails, the natural green and open spaces, and the amenities that are prescribed by the Minutes of Settlement. I think if we work as a team we will achieve a successful conclusion.\u201d
\nThis was music to the ears of Council members who also found themselves previously locked in a battle over the trail lighting, coupled with a reluctance to open up the Minutes of Settlement again.
\n\u201cI think you guys who live in the area know the area best,\u201d said Councillor Paul Pirri. \u201cWe do have some constraints, but with that said there is some wiggle room to work around and find something that works for all the residents in the neighbourhood.\u201d
\nAdded Councillor Tom Mrakas: \u201cI am glad to see we have come to this point.\u201d
\n\u201cThis is a very good example for Council and our community,\u201d said Councillor Wendy Gaertner.
\nThese views were shared by Councillor Sandra Humfryes and Mayor Dawe, the latter of whom said, \u201cWe appreciate your willingness to work together.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a week\u2019s cooling off period, residents surrounding the former Highland Gate Golf Course will work with developers to come up with a park solution that is hoped will work for everyone. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-4E5","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-13 15:02:40","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17861\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}