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6 stouffville suntribune thursday march 16 2006 suntnhune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave 3rd floor stouffville on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director advertising distribution barry black director interactive media technology john futhey director circulation systems lynn pashko marketingpartnerships director debra weller york region printing general manager bob dean editorial nows time to offer planning input they say with change comes oppor- tunity here in york region theres an opportunity for you to play a significant role in what will change the region is embarking on a growth management initiative called planning for tomorrow a symposium was held earlier this month and community meetings will be held over the next six weeks the goal is to present a framework for growth and gather input on how you want to see the community evolve make no mistake standing still is not an option york will continue to grow at a rapid rate the province has big plans for the region according to its places to grow act designed to serve as a blueprint for growth across the golden horseshoe it designates 25 urban growth cen tres in which populations are targeted to grow by at least 40 per cent in york it has earmarked newmarket richmond hill markham andvaughan in all york region is expected to grow from 920000 to 15 million by 2031 burgeoning growth in the past may have meant finding empty land and covering it with subdivisions but times have changed as well as the directives in the places to grow act planners need to make yorks future growth fit the confines imposed by the oak ridges moraine act greenbelt and other legislation and lets not forget the most crucial criteria creating communities in which people want to live it goes beyond deciding what type of development should take place its about providing clean and effi cient transportation and infrastructure its about ensuring our business community remains strong and vibrant and grows in the right way its about providing the best soft ser vices for our growing population there are several ways you can be involved in the process attend one of the sessions the region is hosting this month and next follow the series in the paper or online at yorkregioncom most of all talk about your vision for yorks future now too often citizens wait until con struction has started before they take notice bythen ifs too late if you dont take advantage of the opportunity you really dont have a right to complain about what happens its your community help plan it how poyou know its spring the teafsar faluns letters to the editor residents should get involved to ensure memorial park survives stouffville residents should pay attention to a number of processes policies plans and commit tees that have been developing for a year and which could significantly alter the appearance and use of memorial park at a memorial park master plan session jan 18 the towns consultant conducted an exercise aided by overhead maps in which participants were asked to visualize the potential removal of virtually every existing activity in memorial park including the main ball diamond the grandstand the out door pool the bowling green the skateboard park the toboggan hill thicketwood ballfield and the basketball and tennis courts a list of known and potential changes was also provided at the session while some changes are directly related to the extension of park drive other known and poten tial changes appear to be linked to the strategic plan of action for downtown stouffville which incorporates a parking and traffic circulation study for the downtown core area a component of this plan is the construction of a two car laneway extending from park drive south behind the main ball diamonds grand stand to somerville street presumably eliminat ing all or most of the lawn bowling green the purpose of the proposed laneway is to pro vide rear lane access for service vehicles and off street parking for the businesses south of main the stouffville suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the stouffville suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 34 civic ave po box 154 stouffville l4a 7z5 or email jmasonyrngcom street in the vicinity of the park the draft municipal cultural policy may also bear on the future of memorial park although pre sented as a policy the document contains a spe cific directive to investigate the development of a cultural complex in the downtown core if such a complex were larger than could be accommodated by the redevelopment of any exist ing built up locations in the downtown core large areas of public open space in memorial park could become the obvious target for such a facility at the memorial park planning session the con sultant indicated that no decisions have been made there is as of yet no plan it would therefore seem this is the time for resi dents who care about memorial park to communi cate their concerns to town staff and councillors on the future of this historic and cherished part of our town jillmcwhinnie stouffville editorial editor jim mason jmasonymgcom assistant editor rick vanderlinde rvanderlindeymgcom interactive media marketing advertising manager dawna andrews dandrewsymgcom advertising classified manager ann campbell acampbellymgcom assistant classified manager bonnie rondeau brondeauymgcom retail manager stacey allen sallenymgcom new business development manager mikerogerson mrogersonymgcom production team leader sherry day sdayymgcom editorial 9055131717 fax9055137525 advertising 9055131717 classified 18007433353fax 9058531765 distribution 9055131717 canadian ciinilauonsbhfltl audit board member ontario press council fijnb suntnbune a york region newspaper group community newspaper the suntribune published every thursday and saturday is a member of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd a whollyowned subsidiary of torstar corporation metroland is comprised of 70 community publications across ontario trie york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hill and thomhillvaughan citizen the economist sun markham the erabanner newmarketaurora georgina advocate york region business times north of the city yorkregioncom and york region printing david teetzel our society promotes isolation c e was kind of a recluse they were opposites she was so outgoing but not him we would see him in the back yard sometimes puttering around he never said much kept to himself the first quote was about john lafleche the aurora man charged in the beating deaths of his wife and two children the second was about pero boroja the 70yearold markham man charged with killing his wife in january i dont know any of these people and i have no particular insights into their lives or what caused these tragedies but i read these quotes and i wonder i read about the circumstances of sivananthi elango charged in the mur der of her two children earlier this month and i wonder her family had moved on to their street in markham a couple of months ago and most neigh bours didnt know them we talked to monika samant team leader for the adult crisis program at southlake regional health centre about what people could do if they were in such severe emotional stress that they might harm their own family her first advice talk to someone you trust it makes me wonder what if youre in a situation where theres nobody to talk to what if your family is all you have we design our homes and our com munities with an eye to safety but usu ally thats all about keeping the bad guys out what if we have done so good a job keeping people out that we now need to find ways to let people in is loneliness and isolation as great a threat to our health and safety as ran dom street violence today our newspapers start a series on how york region is planning to grow to 15 million people by 2031 thats 15 million more people who could be your friend but unless we rad ically change the way we build our com munities thats not going to happen we build streets that are great for get ting from a to b but lousy as places to stop and chat but having places where we can gather and share common experiences may be more vital to our health and safety than we realize human beings were designed to be social but we have created societies that promote isola tion at our worst we fight for open space because we dont want more people liv ing near us then were surprised when that neighbour we never knew does some thing we couldnt imagine