Letters

Jeff Green | Apr 27, 2006

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Letters to the Editor

Car wash in Hartington?

As an affected property owner and neighbour in the small Hamlet of Hartington, I am writing to inform you of a proposal before council to build and operate a seven-bay car wash on Road 38 across from the Portland Community Church - which by the way had its well go dry last summer.

As of last council meeting, there was nothing concrete shown to us to prove that the car wash operation would not affect the water table, ground water or the surrounding wells in an adverse way.

Perhaps initially only 4-5 homes would be affected, but who is to say how far reaching into the water table the effects would be, and how long before others could have their wells affected. Who really knows how sensitive the area is without hydro-geological testing?

Are those of us who live close by to give up showers and laundry in the same day so that you can wash your car? Is the church to have no hope of their well being once again useful? Was Sydenham not lesson enough, or Westbrook, as to the frailty of wells and the numerous ways they can be affected?

Not only is the effect on the water supply of grave concern, so will be the increase of traffic to the area (IF this car wash is successful) in front of and past our homes and church. It is already such a fast and busy road! Think about how a concrete block building will look in our pretty hamlet.

Do you look up at the night sky to view the stars? Try doing that with lights from a car wash several hundred feet away, lights that according to the owner will be on all night.

If we sit mildly by and let the car wash operation take root, is it setting precedent for things to come (i.e. strip mall) - things deemed by council to be improvements? We who moved from the city to the country chose to do so for the life style we desired, not to have a modern car wash planted in our line of vision. We like the long shadows round bales of hay lay upon; the full moon beaming over rippling fields, and stars not dulled by light pollution.

Please, we all like a clean car, but it is not a necessity. Water for our homes and lives is! Call your council and tell them how you feel, ask for proof there will be no ill effects to our water supply. I hope you enjoy your hot showers, enjoy watching your gardens grow and flowers bloom because you have water; enjoy your clean car that you didn't have to go to town to get, because this car wash could cost us everything, and affect us all.

- Linda Stewart

SF Council should stand firm on Sunday hunting

South Frontenac Council has voted in opposition to Sunday hunting. I want to lend my support to that decision and am disappointed by the recent news that Central Frontenac Township has changed their original decision and caved into the pressures applied by the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH).

I applaud South Frontenac council’s decision to oppose Sunday hunting and I hope that others who support that decision will also write to make their voices heard. If you don’t your concerns won’t be heard! Hunters are being constantly pushed to argue for “more hunting opportunities” by their provincial lobby group, the OFAH (just check out OFAH’s website).

But who speaks for the large majority of people who do not hunt? What about their rights to enjoy a peaceful walk during the one day of the week when most people can unwind? On more than one occasion I have been warned away from walking along an abandoned railway line because hunters thought that they had the sole right to be there instead of me.

I am not opposed to Sunday hunting for religious reasons but because I think it is reasonable to expect to have one day during the week without the sounds of shotguns and rifles blasting, not only for those of us who don’t hunt, but also for the wildlife’s sake. As proposed, Sunday hunting could take place on both Crown and private land. If such proposals are accepted, those of us who wish to walk Crown lands on Sunday to enjoy nature would have to avoid doing so unless we want to risk getting shot or hearing frequent and annoying shotgun blasts.

It is argued by MNR and OFAH that expansion of hunting to Sundays is necessary to help control overabundant wildlife. However, of all the wildlife species that may be hunted during this expansion, only a few species might be referred to as overabundant. And those could be controlled more naturally if the predators that normally preyed on them had not been hunted excessively themselves. So-called excess animals could also be removed by simply increasing quota limits during existing hunting periods, so saying that hunting should be extended to Sundays to control overabundant wildlife is misleading at best.

Hunters must surely realize that hunting is a very invasive and consumptive activity, not a benign one. It is noisy (with guns) and disturbing to local wildlife and human populations. Hunting with a modern gun or bow (and all the other paraphernalia available to the hunter today) is a far cry from truly ancient hunting with crude spears or arrows. Hunting for survival is one thing but hunting for so-called sport is questionable when so many wildlife species are being negatively impacted by human society’s growth and resulting habitat loss.

So, I encourage South Frontenac Council to maintain its stance on “No Sunday hunting” in South Frontenac Township . I for one would like to have at least one day in the week when family and friends can enjoy nature and wildlife without hearing blasts and seeing fleeing or dying wildlife.

- Diane Cuddy