| Dear Friends, As ever, thank you all for your continued support as we work to protect Talisman lands. Your continued letters to Council are so appreciated and to those of you that have donated to help Friends of the Beaver Valley and Protect Talisman, an additional thank you! You will notice a ‘Get Involved’ section further down in this newsletter. They are important ways that we can make our voices heard and continue to let council know that we are committed to protecting the integrity of the valley. I apologise in advance as this is quite a packed newsletter with lots of holiday reading, including the results of the Freedom of Information Request filed by the Protect Talisman Lands Association! JOIN THE GREY HIGHLANDS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY GROUP WORKSHOP – January 7th, 2022 Several months ago, Grey Highlands Council established an Economic Development Advisory Group chaired by Jim Harrold. The work that this group is doing will likely influence economic development policy in this area. There will be opportunities to help shape this work early in 2021 beginning with a special workshop on January 7th. Below is an excerpt from a letter written by John Butler that FOBV thought you would like to know about: After several meetings the Committee (on November 15) developed and reviewed a document it plans to use as the basis for discussion with Council at a full-day Council-EDAG workshop to be held in January (probably January 7, after Council’s preoccupation with the budget is over). Environmental and climate activists should comment before the workshop, and that the comments might include praise for some elements of the document, and constructive suggestions for improvement. Our Councillors and EDAG members deserve to know what we think before attending a full workshop day discussing the issues. We have an opportunity to help create a win-win between environmental priorities and economic development priorities, and build bridges that connect government, the private sector and the civic sector in pursuit of that win-win – and the earlier we start at building these bridges, the better. I believe that a lesson of the Talisman land debacle is that building bridges to the civic and environmental sectors in the middle or end of an economic initiative, rather than at the beginning, can cause potentially irreparable damage. APPRECIATE THE BEAVER VALLEY GROUP HIKE – January 15th Protecting Talisman Lands Association are planning a snowshoe hike on the Talisman Lands on January 15th. Confirmation of this event, including the time, will be sent out closer to the time. Save the date! READ AN AMAZING SERIES OF ARTICLES: Talisman Lands: Future Partnership or Continued Friction? South Grey News has featured a very compelling 5-part series, written by John Butler. The article beautifully lays out the steps that have led us to this present predicament between the municipality and those with a different vision for the lands. You can read it here. RESULTS of the Protect Talisman Freedom of Information Request (from ProtectTalisman.ca) Read all the documents that were released here.Why did we file a Freedom of Information (FOI) request? We believe that the process to sell the public Talisman lands has been far too secret. The municipality has not been transparent about the process for selling the land or choosing the successful bidder. Who did they meet with? Were all bidders treated fairly? Who was involved in the process? What was the role of ThinkCompass, a firm engaged by the municipality? Why did they choose Westway? What conditions did Westway put on the offer to purchase? What conditions did the municipality put on the offer to sell? Why did they enter into a joint venture with the owners of the private land only to sell the public land separately a few months later? What are the plans for the public land? What kind of development would the municipality consider putting there? Many community members wrote the municipality with these and other questions and received no response or nothing of substance. What did we learn from our FOI?The municipality denied much of our request. The municipality continues to state that they cannot share any details on the conditional sale, even non-monetary ones. Apparently, they have no communications with Westway, the successful bidder, that they can share. We did learn: – That many, many people wrote to the municipality and did not receive a response; – That a report was promised to address community concerns but has not been shared; – That some potential bidders felt that it was difficult to get information from ThinkCompass and wondered if they were being treated fairly. What’s next? – We’ve filed an appeal with the Information and Privacy Commissioner because we believe the municipality has withheld information that should be publicly available. – We are providing all of the released documents to you. Let us know what you think or if you notice anything missing – we need your help! GLOBE AND MAIL PODCAST – ‘Putting a Price on How Nature Protects Us‘ looks at how the town of Gibson, BC have a natural asset management plan alongside the traditional capital assets. It is well worth the listen to see how a forward thinking town is valuing their land instead of thinking of it as somehow ‘not earning it’s keep’ for the taxpayers. GET INVOLVED:South Grey News has posted a very short survey about the sale of the Talisman Lands. I urge all of you to to spend the few seconds to complete it here.Register to speak to council in the Open Forum at their meeting on Wednesday December 15th as they prepare to declare the Talisman lands as surplus. Item 7.2 Agenda – CLS.21.42-Sale of Land Process – Upper and Lower Talisman (420839000412500, 420839000410902) *see below for full document showing the intention that the lands be declared surplus.Any resident of Grey Highlands is able to register to speak for 3 minutes at the beginning of the council meeting at 1pm. Even though there is a maximum of 5 speakers, Council is usually told how many are registered to speak and if we have a good number it is yet another message to Council that many are following this very closely. 3. DONATE to Protecting Talisman Lands Association’s gofundme. Retaining the Talisman public lands as a protected green space for all to enjoy is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Protecting Talisman Lands Association works through public awareness, direct action, and the courts, to encourage the Municipality of Grey Highlands to take a truly visionary approach to the future of these lands rather than sell them lands to a developer. Your financial support will allow for this important work to continue and leave a green legacy. Many people have donated and the support is very appreciated and every dollar is put to use to directly support Protecting Talisman. Congratulations, you made it! With that we would like to take the opportunity to wish you all well for the holidays and, if you have the opportunity, enjoy what the beautiful valley offers us this time of year. Sincerely, Jeanette on behalf of Friends of the Beaver Valley |