In Oakville, we are hearing new concerns being voiced over the development
on the east side of Bronte Creek Provincial Park.. According to recent
articles in the Oakville Beaver, the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA)
is looking for a location to build a national headquarters that would include
a 45 hole golf course and training facility. The RCGA apparently has approached
Parks Ontario about the possibility of developing this facility at Bronte Creek
Provincial Park.
From my perspective, a golf course at Bronte is inconceivable. Make no mistake a golf course will destroy existing natural areas. In a district that continues to grow exponentially, we cannot see the removal of park land from public use. A golf course would do that.
Current plans and planning documents for the park include development of camping on the undeveloped eastern part of the park where golf is being considered. The club and other naturalist groups including the Federation of Ontario Naturalists have expressed concerns about the impact that a campground might have on the ravine and other natural areas in the park. At a meeting with Norm Richards, Managing Director of Parks Ontario in June 1998, we were told that planning was complete, development of a campground would proceed and that the planned camping would be take into account protection of natural features. We were asked to respect Parks Ontario’s mandate to manage the park, somewhat reluctantly I have. While I hope that Parks Ontario is not seriously considering golf at Bronte Creek, I cannot see how they could ignore their own planning process.
I urge anyone who is concerned about our neighbourhood Provincial Park to make yourself informed about this issue. I don’t mean to sound shrill but we must never consider park land as a land bank for development and that is precisely what the RCGA is looking for.
Mark Cranford
Bronte Creek Provincial Park Update
Quite a bit has transpired concerning this issue since the last Bulletin (October), when I asked all club members to pay attention to concerns that the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA) was investigating the possible acquisition of the east side of Bronte Creek Provincial Park.
During October 29 question and answer period in the provincial legislature, John Snobelen, Minister of Natural Resources acknowledged that staff members of the ministry as well as Frank Miller chair of the Ontario Parks Board of Directors had meet representatives of the RCGA and that the minister had instructed staff to inform the RCGA of the process required to permit the development of a golf course at Bronte Creek.
On November 14, I attended a meeting coordinated by Moira Latham of the East Bronte Creek Protection Association. At the meeting, Moira produced a series of documents from the Town of Oakville that were obtained with the assistance of the Sierra Legal Defense Fund under the Freedom of Information Act.
These documents chronicle the efforts of the Town of Oakville on behalf of the RCGA to facilitate the possible of acquisition or lease of the park east of Bronte Creek since at least November 1998. The documents are disturbing in that there appears to be no consideration by the Town of alternative locations in Oakville and that they view the park as little more than a land bank for development.
Disappointed as I am with the Town’s role in this affair, the two main players in this proposal remain the Ministry of Natural Resources (Parks Ontario) and the RCGA. It now appears that a proposal has been submitted to the provincial government by the RCGA. As I write we have no clear view of what the RCGA is proposing or what the government response to the proposal might be. But I think now is the time to make it clear to both organizations that golf is an inappropriate activity in a provincial park and should not be considered.
To that effect, we have included two sample letters in this newsletter. I urge anyone reading this update to read these letters, consider using them as guides but regardless write something today. You may want to send one of these letters verbatim but I am sure that a personalized letter will have far greater impact. I am sure that any criticism received by either the RCGA or the Ministry of Natural Resources will have an impact. So please write something as soon as you can. Locally, the loss of Bronte Creek as a provincial park would be a disaster - a serious threat to Oakville’s valued quality of life …..and property values for that matter. At the provincial level, it would be a dangerous precedent that could potentially lead to the gutting of a parks system that in the past all residents of this province have taken pride in.
Mark Cranford