Phew to whirl "wind" meetings! (con't)series of public consultations on the enormously unpopular project. But the company scheduled the meetings all in one day! The first ran from 8.30-9.30 in Lakeshore, followed by a 10-11 am session at Chatham’s Wheels Inn. Then it was a breathless drive to Kingsville and a 12 noon meeting start. That session had to be packed-up by 2 to move on to Leamington for a gathering at 3. Then, there was no time to spare as proponents had to get in their car(s) and head down the highway to Harrow for a 6 pm meeting time at the arena. Finally it was off to Amherstburg for a session with townsfolk between 7.30 – 8.30 pm. Phew! No surprise, the proposal was greeted by almost universal opposition. In Leamington, the meeting ended abruptly because the crowd was too big for the hall and there were fire code concerns. In Kingsville, the company apparently wanted to book a small room holding 20-30 people but (under municipal pressure) opted for the Lakeside Park Pavilion where 300 packed the place. It’s hard to see what SouthPoint was trying to accomplish with this hurried road tour, except to comply by the flimsiest means with such a requirement under the Environmental Protection Act and Ontario Regulation 359/09 “prior to an application being submitted and assessed for completeness” by the environment ministry. (“There, we held the meetings, okay?”) The company says it is listening to what residents have to say. It will indeed be interesting to learn what criticisms it has taken into account. With the barrage of angry opposition and extremely short meetings it’s a wonder the company had much time to take notes at all.WindsorOntarioNews.com April 5, 2010
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