Dear Friends,
First of all, heartfelt thanks to the many of you who responded so quickly to our last newsletter by writing to and calling Council members and speaking at Open Forum during Wednesday’s Council meeting. Some of those letters are published on Love The Beaver Valley facebook page. The speeches at Open Forum and the entire meeting can be found here.
You probably know the result of the meeting by now was that Grey Highlands Council unanimously voted to sell the Talisman lands to Westway. The vote was disappointing! However, whether the sale goes through or not, the FOBV objectives remain the same. We continue to work to:
- Retain and enhance the integrity of the natural environment in the Beaver Valley Corridor
- Communicate and educate regarding sustainable alternatives to business-as-usual development, and
- Build our network by linking with groups and citizens with similar aims.
As we look ahead in terms of concrete actions in keeping with these objectives, we see a number of activities moving forward:
First, we need to communicate clear and correct information about the properties to a broad audience. There seems to be a public misunderstanding that the sale will bring back the Talisman resort when in fact the resort remains privately owned, and was not involved in the sale. See this article that appeared in the Owen Sound Sun Times as a case in point. We will be working to correct misconceptions.
We have been working with our partner, the Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy (EBC) for almost a year. EBC continues to have an interest in the properties and wants to to ensure that any new development on those lands is sustainable and preserves the environmental, geological and wildlife diversity.
The Niagara Escarpment Foundation (NEF) condemned the sale with this statement “The sale of the municipality’s two parcels to Westway Capital Inc. should be viewed a major step backward for Escarpment protection. The Niagara Escarpment Foundation has joined with community groups in the Beaver Valley community over the past several months in opposing the sale.” They will continue to work to protect the spirit of the Niagara Escarpment Plan. See their full statement on our website.
FOBV will continue to work with EBC and NEF over the coming months.
The non-profit Protecting Talisman Lands Association has also responded with vigour. For news on legal actions see Protect Talisman.
Best wishes,
Jeanette on behalf of FOBV