By Pepper Parr
June 5, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
First it was the provincial election debate, then it was the Stanley Cup games, now it’s the Meltdown in Moncton and with the cup still not won yet – hockey is back in the picture.
Tough for a small town like Burlington to get any air time on national television but it appears that the he CBC National News program on air park problems across Ontario and the Burlington Air Park In., in particular will now be a multi-part effort that will run over a period of time.
The CBC News crew was on site last week recording the damage done, as well as the pristine view the owner of one Appleby Line used to have.
The purpose of the series is to take a look at just what has been happening across the province where small air parks are using their sites to dump fill on – the premise being that they are “improving” their property which they claim is not subject to municipal bylaws but only the dictates of the federal aeronautics legislation.
The situation with the air park in Burlington is a little more advanced than it is in other municipalities. The city won its first court case, which has been appealed and will be heard June 11.
Ian Blue, the lawyer retained by the city to argue the appeal, will be on the air for part of the series which at this point in time is scheduled for June 10th – but every Canadian knows that when the Stanley Cup playoffs are taking place – everything has to adjust that that schedule.
In a note the area residents CBC said: “This is a heads-up to inform you that I have been advised that CBC National News will be airing a report on the fill operations currently underway at various airparks in Ontario – including the Burlington Airpark – and the impacts these have had on the local citizens and the environment.”
They plan to lead the story with footage of the citizens’ rally planned for tomorrow at the Volk Airpark near Tottenham.
It might take more than a year for the problems with the air park to get resolved – but the noose is now getting tighter and tighter. The city and its citizens along with the hundreds of pilots who make legitimate use of the runways now need to begin thinking what could and should be done with that 200 acres of land. Properly approached by a developer that is prepared to follow the rules and adjust to changing conditions. The end game will soon be upon us.
The story was scheduled to be aired Wednesday June 4th, but that got bumped)
CBC had planned to roll them out on Wednesday but The National’s lineup is heavy and the show is delayed because of hockey so we’re holding it until next week.
CBC added that ”we were only able to skim the surface of some of the issues in this first bit of coverage, and there are many issues we’ve either not yet touched on, or have not had time to fully explain. We plan to keep looking into various issues and story lines that came up over the course of gathering elements for this initial coverage, so I will likely be back in touch again in the near future with more questions.”
Burlington is finally going to get coverage of a critical community event from an organization that has much more in the way of resources than the Gazette will ever have.
The fill problem around the GTA, particularly at so called air parks, has been ongoing for a long time. Only now, that a lot of citizens are literally being buried, is it coming to light.
As Toronto, and surrounding municipalities, prepare for the PanAm Games this problem has increased and in some areas is out of control.
Thanks go out to CBC for getting on this.
Thanks as well locally to the Burlington Gazette which has done a great job.
The clean up and remediation of a lot of these sites, including the Burlington Airpark, will take years and will VERY costly – sadly, the clean up will create many jobs !
Canada must update some of its legislation so that we are NOT operating, and HIDING behind regulations, created during WW1 and in the case of highways dating back to 1857.
Who knew? Who is asleep on this one?
Editor’s note: We have been on this story for more than a year along with citizens who have had the courage of their convictions and spoke their minds. Our efforts resulted in law suits which we will defend in the appropriate court.
Joan, everyone knew, but just preferred to turn blind eyes and deaf ears toward this growing problem. Only the residents themselves and Mr. Parr made it a public issue that could no longer be ignored by the powers that run us (literally).
I was unaware that this was happening in so many other places. I read it here on the Gazette and was amazed. I did not mean to suggest that the Gazette was asleep, but wondered where was the law? What is the Law?
Having read this info and about the law suits I do say hats off to Pepper, the Gazette and the others who were sued. I hope it is also realized that most all of us support them all as well. The citizens have a Right and a Need to Know. I am sure that there are others who like me did not realize how far reaching this activity goes.
Gary, this is proof positive why the Gazette is so important and does an excellent job in bringing us up to date information which has never happened before.
Why we all love the Gazette and learning and discussing so many issues vital to the citizens.
Bravo Pepper, Ray, and Staff.
This is good news indeed Pepper.
As an aside. Welcome back. Hope you are recovering with speed and minimal discomfort.
I received word from my friends in our City’s rural community that once the story runs on CBC National News, it will be released for airtime on the local CBC stations across Canada, on CBC radio and on-line at CBC.ca
Do you think Mr. Rossi is losing sleep over this?
This is staggering information Pepper, I had no idea it was going on in other areas as well. The public does indeed have a right to know and to assist their neighbours in times of need for issues such as this. I can’t imagine living next door and discovering all of this affecting the view and the property and what unknowns abide alone. Thanks for bringing it to our attention and for perservering look forward to the findings with interest.