Please don’t take the collective anger over the extensive development in downtown Sidney to the ballot box in October. The noise, disruptions and never-ending inconveniences we have had to endure do not belong at the feet of the present council.
It is the previous council that has so much to answer for when one remembers that all this over-building goes back beyond the current jurisdiction. Developments were in place years ago, plans had been approved, money had changed hands and the race to emulate Langford had begun prior to the previous election.
People were unhappy at the way the town was being managed and showed it in the election results but neither the mayor nor council would have been in a position to overturn these lucrative developments, not without serious legal consequences.
I certainly don’t blame the mayor, or council, while being as disrupted as anyone else by the constant noise from the never-ending construction on Third and Fourth streets, not being able to exit our garage because of the equipment parked in front, or having a flagger tell me to wait or trying to negotiate the mess of Third Street on either side of Beacon. I worried about the downtown stores and the lovely thrift shop completely obscured by Cortile Verde, how did clients find them among all the tapes, pilons and portable toilets? But there again, blame the previous mayor and council, they signed the papers, dotted all the i’s and used the official stamps of approval.
To all who decide to run for election in Sidney, at least give us some commitment that all future development will be more measured and in keeping with the image Sidney presents to the rest of the world. Promise that future developers will be required to include a portion of green space in the plans and that we will no longer be viewed as racing to be the concrete jungle of some neighbouring municipalities.
Pamela Jackson
Sidney
