The Duthie – Cherry St. Lands

 

I have promised to keep the CCRA community updated on the Eden Oaks application for the Duthie – Cherry St. lands.  As most of you know, there are discussions ongoing between the developer and GO Transit, which has shown an interest in buying the land and using it as a parking lot for people driving to the Port Union GO station.  I feel, as I know the community does, that we would be best served if GO purchased the land.  A decision should be reached by the end of May on whether or not GO will proceed with the purchase.   I will continue to express the strong feelings of the residents on this issue and urge GO Transit’s Board of Directors to endorse the purchase.  It was the community’s involvement that assured a second access in.

 

Enjoying Our Parks in Safety

 

Last year it was brought to the attention of my office on several occasions that certain activities were taking place in our Parks that greatly detracted from our ability to enjoy them in peace and safety.  In particular, Adams Park was frequently mentioned as a source of late night noise stemming from the behaviour of a few individuals who carried on in an unsafe and inappropriate manner.  Several approaches were tried by our Parks staff to enforce proper behaviour in the park that affected the local community. 

 

This year I will be leading a Safety Walk through Adams Park on Thursday May 22 at 7:00pm, starting from the entrance to the parking lot from Rozell Rd.  Police, Parks officials and representatives from Sir Oliver Mowat Collegiate have confirmed their participation.  I am also inviting all of you to join us.  After a tour of Adams Park, we will go immediately to the Skateboard Park at the Port Union Community Centre.  The purpose of these tours is to raise the profile of the facilities with the community, the Police and Parks staff and to take suggestions on improving safety and security within the Parks from the various knowledgeable people on hand.  I look forward to seeing many of you there.

 

On a related subject, while attending a recent meeting of the 43 Division Community Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) we learned of a novel approach to committing fraud involving eager young people going from door to door with documents implying they were raising funds on behalf of the Hospital For Sick Children.  The documents were fake, created on a computer and authentic looking enough to potentially fool people into being defrauded of their money.   Just a reminder, the coming of the good weather can be accompanied by those who would abuse our good intentions for their own profit, sometimes in unexpected ways.

 

June 21 Waterfront Festival

 

Plans for the inaugural Waterfront Festival on June 21 continue to come together.  There is still room for sponsors to get in on the ground floor of what we all feel will be an enjoyable and popular event.  There is also a need for volunteers to help with set up, take down and traffic control.  Anyone who wishes to apply as a sponsor and enjoy the benefits of giving their business some profile within the event grounds, or who can volunteer their time on June 21 should call my office at 416-338-5306 or 416-392-1373 and my staff will be happy to get your information to the Waterfront Festival Committee.