The intersection of Derry and Trudeau in Hawthorne Village, Milton. Beautification? Check.

Recently, local blogger and candidate for Milton Town Council in Ward 8, Zeeshan Hamid has strung together a series of posts discussing the ‘beautification’ or lack thereof, in Milton.

Hamid makes the case that Milton should position itself as an ‘Escarpment Community’ and that it’s future development and infill projects should take this into consideration. He’s essentially saying that Milton, from an urban planning and design standpoint, needs to separate itself from the rest of the urban sprawl west of Toronto.

Yes, this means you, Mississauga, Brampton and Oakville (north of the QEW, at least).

He’s correct. Oakville has Lake Ontario and by extension it’s signature Lakeshore Boulevard strip with its quaint shopping, restaurants, parks, etc. Mississauga has the lake as well and in addition, has more of a ‘big city’ downtown in the vicinity of Square One. Not all that great to some, but the city has become a major Canadian business centre because of it. Brampton has, well, um, not much. Sorry.

Moving west, the intersection of Derry and Holly has hanging pots of flowers.

Milton? Well, we’ve got a lot going for us.

We’re a small but growing town nestled in at the foot of the scenic Niagara Escarpment. The town’s amenities have increased ten-fold in the past decade and yet the downtown core — albeit not to be confused with Lakeshore Boulevard in Oakville — is quaint, somewhat scenic and is home to events such as this weekend’s Downtown Street Festival and the weekly Farmer’s Market. Milton is also a hop, step and a jump away from any number of conservation areas and farms with recreational opportunities abound, unlike Mississauga and Oakville.

Milton truly is a place where city meets country — and that’s a unique and strong selling point, especially in the GTA. With controlled growth and a little extra attention to detail, Milton was in a position years ago to truly become the jewel of the GTA. Seriously.

And how are we doing?

So far, not great.

Okay, Milton’s expansion hasn’t gone horribly mind you (we’ll talk traffic at another time), but things could have been better.

In Milton's newest development, Hawthorne Village on the Escarpment, things are looking a little bland.

Zeeshan is right — situated against Ontario’s most prominent geographical feature, the Niagara Escarpment, Milton should absolutely be positioning itself as a special place to be — an ‘Escarpment Community’ as he has coined it. A community where, from a design point of view at least, a little bit of that rural touch is brought in to soften the hard visuals of wider roads and new subdivisions.

The new housing developments themselves aren’t too bad. Hawthorne Village in the town’s southeast corner, is a decent-looking community with a nice mix of different sized houses and some nice designs. Well-done Mattamy. If you drive around in the older areas of Hawthorne Village where the trees have had 7+ years to grow, the streets actually have quite a nice character to them.

HV’s signature intersection of Derry and Trudeau was also well-executed from an ‘Escarpment Community’ standpoint as Zeeshan pointed out, with a good-looking median lined with trees and flowers. Is it a coincidence that Mattamy has their main Milton office situated on this corner? Probably not.

At any rate, most of Hawthorne Village, from a housing standpoint, was decently thought out. As you head west however, it’s a different story, and again, the Z-man nailed it with his recent assessment that the urban design is indeed regressing as you head toward the escarpment.

The Derry/Holly intersection has a concrete median with hanging flower pots. Trees and planted flowers would have been better, yes, but there was at least some attempt at beautification. However, moving into Milton’s newest area of development, Hawthorne Village on the Escarpment, it leaves us not only wanting more, but also disappointed.

I remember when Mattamy and other new home builders announced their plans to develop the land to the west of the existing town — I assumed these new developments would be pricey and exclusive and of the highest standard of both design and quality, given their proximity to the escarpment.

I was wrong.

The Hawthorne Village on the Escarpment area south of Derry and west of the CN Rail tracks is simply sub-par given it’s proximity to and sightlines of the escarpment and even in comparison to Mattamy’s earlier work in the east of town.

I don’t mean to dump on Mattamy or HVE residents here — I don’t know design-wise how much of this is in the hands of the builders or whether it’s the town needing to simply demand more from land developers. At any rate, there are a ton of large, exclusive homes in this area, but they are simply ridiculously sandwiched together on narrow, congested streets — even by today’s development standards — that the overall ‘look’ is simply not up to snuff.

And comparing the major intersections — Scott and Derry for example, leaves a lot to be desired in comparison to Holly/Derry and Trudeau/Derry. Overall, the development looks rushed and not well thought out — very ‘anti-Escarpment Community’ — not good considering it’s unfortunately ironic placement.

You also need to look at the new shopping plazas in town. Not a pleasant sight for the most part. Very wide open, lots of concrete and again, you get the feeling there was zero thought put into the design here. The Metro Plaza at Thompson and Louis St. Laurent has ‘urban sprawl’ written all over it. The Superstore plaza beside the GO Station? Well, that’s simply too much of a disaster to go into at this point, as is the whole intersection of Thompson and Main Streets — let’s save that one for another day.

So what types of things does Milton need to consider — from an urban design point of view — moving forward?

I believe Milton needs to position itself right now as the ‘Escarpment Community’ where urban and rural living collide.

In future new development and infill projects, some care absolutely needs to be taken to try to beautify the town where possible and begin to try to set it apart from neighbouring cities.

Newly built major roads and intersections, especially those leading in and out of town absolutely should have medians that allow for trees, plants and flowers. Let’s not forget about pine trees or cedars as well which maintain their look throughout our long winters.

Speaking of major roads, let’s do our best to keep homes from facing onto major arteries like Derry Road, and where homes do face onto major roads, let’s allow for trees as a buffer. Forget about fences — an ‘Escarpment Community’ needs to incorporate nature and natural elements as much as possible.

And speaking of ‘buffer zones’, let’s work on our shopping plazas and business centers. If parking lots need to face out to roads, can trees be planted to hide the sea of concrete from view? What about trying to get some storefronts facing out towards the road instead of toward the inner parking lot? Wouldn’t it look so much better to drive along roads like Derry or Bronte and see storefronts, trees, sidewalks and benches instead of bland back entrances, garbage bins or parking lots? Can we not try to avoid unmitigated disasters like the townhomes on Kennedy Circle that have the arse-end of the Metro Plaza stores staring back at them in their living rooms? Of course we can.

Infill is critical as well. Here’s hoping this type of care and consideration is also taken when the design and planning of future projects in ‘Old Milton’ takes place in areas such as Main Street east of downtown. I think we can all agree that most of that area of Main St. — lined with industrial plazas — is hardly befitting of an ‘Escarpment Community.’ Ditto for most of Ontario St. and Steeles Ave. — both major arteries for visitors or passersby through Milton. If your impression of our town was based on the beautification or lack thereof along these routes, you probably wouldn’t be too anxious to move to Milton.

Granted, these areas aren’t likely to be transformed easily if at all, but any infill projects planned here in the future should take this into consideration. Even much of the industrial area along Steeles could be softened if trees could be added to the sides of the road.

Honestly, I think the formula is pretty simple. Urban sprawl such as what Milton has experienced over the past decade, seems to be synonymous with open, bland spaces and lots of concrete. If nothing else, the thought process from now on should be: when in doubt — trees, trees and more trees. Oh, and plants and flowers too.

You get the point. Milton has a lot to be proud of — it’s geographical location included. I think it’s time that the town seriously considers trying to capture a sense of that as it continues to grow. This isn’t about property values, it’s about pride. It’s about making Milton a special place to be. Milton should (and still could) be the jewel of the GTA.

The disturbing thing for me, is the fact that the town was essentially a blank canvas a decade ago. As Zeeshan has pointed out, no one bothered to look at the mistakes made by other Municipalities like Mississauga, Oakville or Brampton in their years of aggressive development — or even the successes for that matter (speaking specifically of Mississauga’s policy of infrastructure before population growth). And now, here we sit feeling the brunt of some of the decisions made years ago with little thought given to any sort of vision for Milton’s future.

Who’s to blame? I’m sure you could come up with a laundry list of people, politicians and organizations, but at this point I think it’s best to look to the future.

Milton’s rapid expansion has still only barely begun and there is still plenty of time to right some of the previous wrongs with regard to urban planning and design — as well as continue to improve older areas via sensible infill strategies.

I’ve been saying it for years: this is a pivotal time in the history of this town. Don’t be afraid to voice your opinions, concerns and support for the candidates you think can help achieve the vision you have for Milton.

That’s right, this is yet another call for voter turnout in this Fall’s Municipal election. It’s time for us to get actively involved in shaping Milton.

Should Milton be satisfied with simply becoming another generic GTA suburb, or do we take steps to make our town a special, desirable place that is unique and stands out?

I knew you’d agree with me. The time is now.

—

Milton Urban Planning Fails is a regular feature on MiltonSearch.com.

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Andrew Salmons confirmed today via the Milton Hawthorne Villager Forum, that he has indeed filed his paperwork and is running for Councillor in Milton’s Ward 1.

Hi Everyone,

I’ve decided to run for Councillor for Ward 1 and registered my candidacy. I’ll have a website ready soon to outline my platform, my experience, and ways you can contribute/donate. I promise to listen to my constituents. I’m a big believer in openness, communication, and accountability, and flexibility.

More to come. I would like to thank for those who supported me in my decision to run.

If you have any questions/comments, please post on the forum, or you can PM me, or email me at andrewgsalmons@gmail.com. I am very excited to hear what you have to say and any issues you would like me to address for Ward 1.

Sincerely
Andrew Salmons

And yes, it’s this Andrew Salmons.

Andrew’s posts of late on the Hawthorne Villager Forum seemed to indicate that he would indeed throw his hat into the ring at some point, as he had begun to share some detailed opinions and solutions on some of the current issues facing the Town right now. To anyone who follows or participates regularly on that particular online resource, I don’t think this news really comes as a surprise.

Again, I think it’s great to see people like Mr. Salmons getting involved and showing a passion for our community. It’s becoming clear to me that Milton’s next Council will be it’s most diverse, caring, enthusiastic, engaged and accessible ever.

And as Canada’s fastest growing Municipality continues to rapidly define and shape itself, that is a very good thing.

As always, we encourage everyone to get to know the candidates in your Wards and what they stand for, be informed on the issues that are important to you and make the effort to get out and vote this October!

We also wish Mr. Salmons all the best in his run for office and congratulate him on his desire to run and be actively involved in Milton’s future.

Oh, and just in case you’re curious — here is the map of Milton’s new Ward boundaries for the upcoming 2010 Municipal elections.

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At 5:00 am this past Saturday morning, the phones rang out at the offices of MiltonSearch.com, waking everyone from their slumber.

The reason for this 5am wake-up call? Well, it was an automated message from Halton District School Board letting us know that indeed, classes and field trips were cancelled for the day due to inclement weather.

It’s worth mentioning again that it was a Saturday morning and after running to the window to see what kind of winter storm we were experiencing, there was absolutely no snow to speak of.

Later in the day — after waking up on my own — whilst perusing the Hawthorne Villager discussion forums, I realized we weren’t the only lucky ones who received this early wake-up call.

School trustee Donna Danielli later posted the following apology in the thread:

I am so very sorry for the glitch in our system which sent 5 am phone calls out to all of our houses this morning.

Technology is great when it works, but when it doesn’t….grrrr!

Again, my apologies to all who disturbed so early on a weekend. Please know that the Board tech department is investigating and hopefully it won’t happen again.

Donna Danielli
Public School Trustee
daniellid@hdsb.ca

and this:

Again, I cannot apologize enough for those who were disturbed so early this morning. Our head of IT sent out the following explanations for those who are curious how it happened:

This message was sent in error. It occurred as a result of testing updates to the system. I.T staff did not double check the cancellation of a test message. This resulted in the system sending the message you received.

We take this situation very seriously. We apologize for waking households and for delivering an incorrect message. We apologize for undermining the value of the Home Notification System and will work to ensure this never happens again.

And then Sunday, I came across this article in the Toronto Star, realizing that this wasn’t limited to Milton — thousands of families across Halton received the call. Apparently ‘the call’ also made the airwaves on 680News later in the day.

Now, as bothersome as it was to be unexpectedly awakened early on a Saturday morning, it’s hard to imagine how this ended up as front page news in the Sunday Star. Slow news day or what?

Let’s keep this in perspective folks — it was just a phone call. These kinds of technical glitches happen — albeit not too often — but they happen. It’s not the end of the world.

To Donna Danielli: thank you for responding to the online posters and apologizing, although I’m pretty sure you didn’t have to and it definitely wasn’t your fault.

And what about us? Were we annoyed? Well, yes — but it’s good to know the school board’s new automated phone alert system is obviously operational, date issues aside.

Granted, our children stayed sound asleep and snuggled in their beds during all of this. If that wasn’t the case, well, I think this post would have had a slightly different tone.

Chill, people.

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Milton resident and owner/moderator of the popular Hawthorne Villager discussion forums Rick Di Lorenzo, has filed his paperwork and declared his intention to run for Town Council in Ward 7.

Di Lorenzo launched his blog and discussion forums focused on Milton’s new development areas in 2004 and the forums in particular have grown in popularity to the point where its members represent a larger cross-section of Miltonians and capture the issues not only of new homeowners, but the pulse of the town as a whole.

Rick has shown a lot of patience and dedication in maintaining and moderating the forum over the years, and MiltonSearch.com would like to congratulate Rick for deciding to run and wish him good luck in the race. He has said he will post updates to his blog page, hawthornevillager.com.

The Municipal elections take place October 25, 2010 and we encourage everyone to get to know the candidates, their platforms and the important issues which your Ward and the Town of Milton is facing before heading to the polls this Fall.

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In another message from the ‘worst kept secret in Milton’ department, Mike Cluett confirmed this morning via his Twitter account that he has indeed filed his paperwork and is officially a candidate in Ward 6.

Its official! Mike Cluett is a candidate for Ward 6 in the Town of Milton! #miltonvote

Mike is a great guy and his passion for the Milton community is second to none. He campaigned tirelessly around Hawthorne Village the last time around in 2006 and looks to be one of, if not THE favourite in Ward 6 in 2010.

Cluett is also visibly in touch with the community through his popular Milton blog, which he’s been posting on for at least five years now, and is also a regular contributor to the Hawthorne Villager forums.

MiltonSearch.com would like to wish Mike all the best in his run for Town Council in 2010. Mike truly is one of the good guys. As we have opined before, we strongly urge Miltonians to get out and vote in our Municipal Elections this October and elect the right people who will help to shape a positive future for our town.

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From Mike Cluett:

As a few residents of the area found out last week, its not a good idea to leave the cars running to warm up in the morning.  Here’s the story from the Milton Canadian Champion about what happened at several homes in Hawthorne Village.

If you must warm your car up in the morning, make sure the doors are locked or have an automatic car starter.  These thefts were really close to home for me and we have to make sure we are aware of what is going on around us. If you park your car in the driveway, make sure you lock your vehicle.  These crooks are fast and smart.  One will drive around the neighbourhood looking for cars that are running.  Another will get out and quickly check the vehicle to see if it’s unlocked.

If they can’t steal the car, they’ll try to get credit cards, cash, wallets, purses etc.

Continue reading this column at Mike Cluett’s Milton Blog

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The Boyne Survey will be the site of the third phase of Milton’s residential growth, the previous two having started over the past 10 years. Once all three phases are complete, Halton’s regional staff estimate Milton’s population will be close to 150,000 by 2021.

An intersting story in this weekend’s Champion on Milton’s development from the ‘other’ side. Farmer Hugh Beaty describes the development approaching his Omagh farm as “they have to have someplace to live.”

Yes, it’s hard to believe the next phase of Milton’s development will be creeping into the territory of the small hamlet of Omagh, but Mr. Beaty, it’s not that simple…

Yes, we all knew Milton was primed for a serious population boom as Mississauga and Oakville neared their capacity, but the flipside is that this development comes at the expense of some of Southern Ontario’s and certainly Halton Region’s best farmland.

It makes you wonder about where or when the Town of Milton should draw the line on their expansion plans. We’ll see as time goes on as to whether the tough economic state we’re in affects those decisions as well.

Enjoy, and as always, we invite you to leave your comments below.

From The Milton Canadian Champion:

For 90 years, Hugh Beaty has watched the once small town of Milton inch closer to his farm near Omagh, in the area formerly known as Trafalgar North.

Yet, though he was taken away from his home at times — serving in the Second World War, doing charitable work in northeastern Brazil — he was always able to return to a farming community.

“I’m still living on the farm I was born on,” noted Beaty, whose family name is the namesake of a community and under-construction library branch in the town.

Soon, though, the retired farmer’s 100-acre property on Fourth Line, just south of Britannia Road, will no longer look out onto flat farmland. Instead, it will be face to face with the growing urban area of Milton.

“They’re going to come,” said Beaty of the population increases in Milton. “They have to have someplace to live.”

Where they — up to 50,000 new residents — will live was the subject of a public meeting last week on what is called the Boyne Survey- Education Village secondary plan.

The 950-hectare Boyne lands are bounded by Louis Saint Laurent Boulevard to the north, James Snow Parkway to the east, Britannia Road to the south and Tremaine Road to the west. The Town is also including the 165-hectare area known as the Education Village at the northwest corner of Britannia and Tremaine roads in the secondary plan.

Beaty, along with more than 50 other local residents, attended the session to find out what planning has already been undertaken by the Town in preparation for opening up the area to residential development, perhaps by 2013.

According to the Town’s planning consultant, Liz Howson, much of the background research on the Boyne area has been completed, including sub-watershed studies and retail requirements to service the proposed community.

The Boyne Survey will be the site of the third phase of Milton’s residential growth, the previous two having started over the past 10 years. Once all three phases are complete, Halton’s regional staff estimate Milton’s population will be close to 150,000 by 2021.

What might distinguish the Boyne area compared to the first two growth phases, according to Howson, is a focus on transit-supportive development. This would include higher density development at the intersections of major streets and a possible transit hub located at the Education Village, which is the proposed site for a campus of Wilfrid Laurier University.

Planning has already begun for widening important traffic corridors as well. The Region foresees the widening of Tremaine from Britannia to north of the 401 starting in 2013, with a portion between Derry Road and Main Street in 2011. And the Region will start an environmental assessment for the widening of Britannia between Tremaine and Trafalgar Road this year, said Town planner Bill Mann. Construction on Britannia is also scheduled to begin in 2013.

The next stage in the planning process is the creation of land use options in the Boyne survey area. The options will be the subject of another public workshop Thursday, Mar. 5, before being whittled down to a preferred option to go to Milton council for approval.

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It looks like the times they-are-a-changin’ in Mattamy land:

From YourHome.ca:

Mattamy Homes CEO Peter Gilgan in his Oakville office.

As new home sales slip into a deep freeze, even Canada’s No.1 house builder is having to remodel

Peter Gilgan shuffles a clump of paper on his large wooden desk. “These are all the bills,” he jokes to a photographer.

As the largest house builder in Canada, Gilgan has taken proactive steps to avoid those looming bills as sales slow in the North American real estate market.

His company, Mattamy Homes, laid off 50 staff in November.

In a memo to employees, Gilgan called it “the most difficult and humbling” action he has had to take in his 30 years as a business leader.

“The housing market is certainly not going to be as buoyant as it was. There are different expectations today than expectations from a year or two ago,” says the developer, sitting in his Oakville boardroom.

On a crisp January day, Gilgan, 58, is suffering from a cold, but he is genial when greeting guests for a rare interview. Despite the fact he’s the CEO of the country’s largest builder of detached homes, with more than 40 sales and construction sites up and running throughout North America and more than a billion dollars in annual sales, the chartered accountant has always preferred to remain behind the scenes.

But Mattamy’s fortunes are in many ways symbolic of what is happening in Canada’s softening real estate industry, especially because of its leadership position.

According to the latest figures from the Building Industry and Land Development Association, total new-home sales in the GTA for the first 11 months of 2008 were down by 35 per cent. For low-rise homes, which Mattamy builds, industry-wide sales were off by 39.1 per cent. New-home companies have slashed prices and given away free trips and cars to entice buyers. Taking a page from the beleaguered car industry, Mattamy introduced “employee pricing” at select American sites last year, extending the same discounts to the public as to their employees.

According to Gilgan’s figures, his company is doing much better than the average builder, closing 4,031 homes in 2007 with $1.5 billion in revenue and “just under” 4,000 homes in 2008 with $1.4 billion in revenue. The company has some 1,000 full-time employees.

But all bets are off for this year.

“The scope of the economic change is way beyond anything I anticipated,” Gilgan said in his memo.

One could argue that because of the company’s size, as goes Mattamy, so goes the nation – or at least the fortunes of municipalities in the GTA. So far, a greater-than-expected drop in the real estate markets has taken a toll.

Over the past couple of months, Mattamy has consolidated administrative staff from across the GTA into its Oakville headquarters, and has also closed its Markham office.

“The decision reflects an anticipated further decline in volumes in our order book,” says Gilgan. “The net result is that we will cease to operate as three distinct divisions in the GTA and will manage as one organization from one location.”

Gilgan says that to move homes during the downturn, the company has been “aggressively re-pricing our products and addressing design and quality processes.”

Meanwhile, concerns are mounting about the financial impact the housing downturn will have on home builders across the board. Mattamy expanded aggressively in the United States. The company has multiple sites in four states including Florida, which has become ground zero for the subprime crisis.

Gilgan insists Mattamy is actually in “better” shape than it has been in the past, despite the credit crunch that has crippled some developers.

“We continue to owe less money so I’ll say things are better,” he says. “I lament that there aren’t more opportunities to invest.”

He points out that ratings agency Standard & Poor’s recently left his company’s rating unchanged at BB.

“There aren’t too many builders out there that can say the same thing,” he says. “We require very little outside financing and we have a willingness of lenders who continue to lend to us.”

(According to Standard & Poor’s, a BB rating goes to a company with “marginal financial security characteristics. Positive attributes exist, but adverse financial conditions could lead to insufficient ability to meet financial commitments.”)

In the U.S., meanwhile, sales are “starting to climb out of the basket,” says Gilgan. “Sales were down significantly.” They were, however, better in December, and January has been looking “positive,” he says.

Sales in Canada have also dropped because of delays in getting some projects off the ground, Gilgan says. He blames a progressive tightening of requirements by municipal and regional governments that has made it difficult for developers to accurately predict when their land will be approved.

“As developers we’re not expecting a handout, but we’re hoping that government can help us to expedite land development in a cost-effective way.”

Gilgan warns that delays in some GTA projects caused by red tape could mean more layoffs at Mattamy this year.

“Are we going to lay people off? Maybe. But it wouldn’t necessarily be because of the economy or the market,” he says. “If I can get my communities approved, then we’ll have growth. If not, then we’ll have shrinkage.”

Growth, not retreat, has been the path of Mattamy for the last decade. Certainly last year, the company’s 30th anniversary, should have been one of celebration for Gilgan, who has been the industry’s poster boy for the last decade – for his success as well as his philanthropy.

Mattamy has won every conceivable builder’s award, including a third J.D. Power award in 2008 for new home buyer satisfaction for the Greater Toronto Area. The year before that, Gilgan took home the prestigious Ernst & Young Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year title, taking his place among the Canadian business establishment.

In Oakville, the former home that he shared with his now ex-wife and eight children was the grandest symbol of success. Edgemere sold last summer for an estimated $35.5 million, the largest price for a single family home in the province.

But nothing is forever – at least in the development business. The new owners plan to tear down the 32,000-square-foot mansion that Gilgan built and replace it with 10 luxury condos.

“I put a lot of work into it, so for me it was my attempt at art, since I can’t draw a stick man if you paid me. I put my artistic expression in my homes,” says Gilgan, who remembers flying to France just to buy door hardware and crystal for the home.

“It was a lot of fun, and I got a lot of gratification out of it. But the new owners paid for it and they can certainly do what they want with it.”

As the company heads into a downturn, Gilgan says he’s looking at ways to improve the business and relationships with partners to lay the seeds for when things turn around.

“For over 13 years we have enjoyed the longest growth market cycle that anyone in the GTA can recall,” he says. “It has gone on for so long that many in our industry may not even realize this is a cyclical business.”

Under Gilgan’s leadership, Mattamy has been a true innovator. The company is known for its “wide lot” brand, where the use of wider lots instead of the traditional long, narrow lots allows Mattamy to offer more interesting elevations and designs at more affordable prices.

And taking a page from car assembly lines, the company also has a division that builds homes in an indoor plant, avoiding weather delays.

“We have always tried to see everything from the customer’s viewpoint,” says Gilgan, explaining the company’s success.

“And we’ll continue to do that, even when times are tough. We’ve seen this story before.”

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Regional council passes resolution to stall growth of new developments if province doesn’t pay

With his council's backing, Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr will go to a planned meeting with Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman in early December to make his case that growth has not been paying for itself – and things have to change.

On behalf of all Miltonians who have put up with lack of infrastructure in Milton relative to the Town’s feverish growth in population over the last 8 years, kudos to Gary Carr for laying down the gauntlet to Queen’s Park.

This has been a huge issue in Milton and elsewhere in Halton Region for years now, so it’s great news that Carr, backed by his council, will have a meeting in early December with Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman. Of course, Smitherman is on record as saying that Carr is simply “grandstanding.”

Right.

He’s just been “grandstanding” – of course there’s no issue in Halton (specifically Milton — Canada’s fastest-growing city) with things like traffic, daycare availability or funding for Milton District Hospital.

From MiltonSearch.com news:

“The tipping point for Halton, which has had to hike property taxes repeatedly to make up the difference, has been the issue of hospitals. With two new hospitals needed in the region and two expansions in the works, councillors are balking at being forced to pay what the province considers the region’s share – as much as one-third, or about $300 million – to provide facilities sufficient for an expected population growth of 100,000 over the next 13 years.

Gary Gregoris, vice-president of Mattamy Homes, the GTA’s biggest builder, was present at yesterday’s meeting and said he believes regional councillors are serious.

He warned, however, that development charge increases would just be passed on to consumers when builders factor them into the price of a new home. If housing prices continue to tumble “and the costs don’t go down, then something has got to give.”

Anyhoo, stay tuned and we’ll see where this all goes. In the meantime, we invite you to read previous opinions and news on this topic on MiltonSearch.com’s blog and news pages, including the most recent article.

We encourage you to leave us with your $.02 also by clicking on the comments link below.

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Dr. Hardy Limeback says almost everyone gets enough fluoride from toothpaste and other oral hygiene products.

Last week we posted on the topic of “new” Milton’s water supply, which we all know is fluoridated and comes from the “big pipe” out of Lake Ontario. The rest of Milton’s water comes of course, from the Niagara Escarpment and isn’t fluoridated.

Apparently, Milton’s water fluoridation is now again up for discussion as it was a few years ago, when the local fishwrap was jammed with opinions and arguments (sometimes heated) for both sides.

Below is an interesting article found today, which seems to present the most popular belief these days, and an opinion shared by MiltonSearch.com, that it may be time to end adding fluoride to our water. Don’t we get what we need by brushing our teeth? Why not keep our drinking water as chemical-free as possible? It seems to make sense at least from a distance, and unlike a few years ago when this issue was raised, we seem to be seeing more common-sense arguments this time around, and from some reputable sources, which also helps.

It appears that in late 2008 at least, calling for the removal of fluoride from the drinking water doesn’t immediately label you as a “quack.”

As always, we encourage an open discussion, so feel free to give us your $.02 on this issue by clicking the comments link at the bottom of this article.

From Healthzone.ca:

End water fluoridation, professor says: people get enough from toothpaste, he argues.

Back in the 1960s, when the fluoridation of water became widespread, objections to the practice tended to come from the fringes.

It was a communist plot to poison the water supply, came the cry from some quarters.

Today, as municipalities begin to debate fluoridation anew, the arguments against it are more mainstream.

Halton’s Health and Social Services Committee recently voted to recommend to the full regional council that Halton stop fluoridating its water.

Added in trace concentrations to the drinking water of some 43 per cent of Canadian municipalities, fluoride has a proven track record of preventing tooth decay.

But today, many experts argue, we no longer need to run fluoride out of our taps.

That’s the conclusion University of Toronto dental professor Dr. Hardy Limeback came to long ago, after studying the issue extensively.

Limeback, whose fluoridation stance has caused some consternation in the dental and public health communities, says almost everyone gets enough fluoride from toothpaste and other oral hygiene products.

“Even those people who rely on food banks pick up fluoridated toothpaste for their families,” he said in an email interview, adding “fluoridated water is not needed for the poor.”

Indeed, Limeback says fluoridated toothpaste, introduced around the same time as the water supplies were being converted, is likely as responsible as tap water for the drop in decay.

As well, experts point out, some advanced countries such as Sweden never fluoridated water supplies, and many European countries are stopping the practice. Tooth decay rates are no higher in Europe than in Canada, Limeback says.

He also says there are legitimate health concerns associated with fluoridation, mainly related to the potential for over-ingestion.

In infants younger than one year, fluoride may cause dental fluorosis, or the staining of tooth enamel, according to a National Research Council of Canada warning in 2006.

Limeback points to studies linking fluoride to neural damage in infants, leading to lower IQ levels in later life.

If children brush with fluoridated toothpaste twice a day, they don’t need another source of fluoride, Limeback says.

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