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6- The Oakville Beaver, Friday March 30, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER Group Publisher NEIL OLIVER Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director TERI CASAS Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager Media Group Ltd. Is it too late to reconsider? We wonder how many trustees at the Halton Catholic District School Board might consider taking back last June's decision not to participate in a four-partner, joint Halton Regional Campus. Today the Catholic school board finds itself in a struggle to replace outdated administrative buildings that are literally falling apart. Preliminary findings indicate the board may be facing the financial burden of a $22 million-plus stand-alone facility, the cost of which won't be picked up by the Ministry of Education. (The ministry does not fund administrative facilities.) Some trustees are hesitant to hire the services of real estate agents to find suitable land for a new administrative property until the board can figure out how it's going to pay for the new building. Nearly 10 months ago this same school board failed to reach a consensus regarding a shared facility -- this despite the fact that an overwhelming majority of its own school councils were supportive of a single Halton administrative campus. Written support for the regional campus from more than three-quarters of the board's school councils failed to convince a majority of elected trustees not to let an opportunity to be part of a cost-saving collective slip through its fingers. While some trustees were concerned about the negative impact a shared facility might have on the board's ability to maintain its Catholicity, others from within the board viewed it as an opportunity to become part of an inclusive society. Back in June, a 4-4 deadlock vote essentially rejected the board's membership in a regional administrative campus that would have included partners from Halton Region, Halton Regional Police and the Halton District School Board. The Catholic school board could have been a ground-floor partner in an innovative concept intended to save the region's tax base millions of dollars -- compared to the four partners pursuing separate administrative homes. Instead, it now finds itself on the outside looking in. The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Town of Oakville needs better bike access across the natural and manmade barriers that isolate neighbourhood bike-lanes. Sustainable development in the transportation sector is all about engaging local people to find better ways to travel in our day-to-day activities. Oakville and the surrounding Golden Horseshoe region offers excellent recreational bike routes to explore the countryside and enjoy our beautiful scenery. For recreational bicycling we have a We need sustainable development in the transportation sector great system of trails that provide access through our natural ravines to neighbourhood parks and parkettes. Unfortunately, using a bicycle to get downtown or to the Go Stations is not as easy or as enjoyable. There are a series of natural and man-made barriers in town, like the QEW, Sixteen Mile and Bronte creeks that isolate our neighbourhoods. This means sharing the road with motorists over the heavily travelled access routes that bridge these barriers. I was first made aware of the issue when the QEW bridge expansion across Sixteen Mile creek destroyed the east side bike path under the QEW. It got me thinking, a pedestrian walkway under the new bridge would be a great way cut my travel time to the GO Station from Glen Abbey. Once my daughter started working in Mississauga she needed the car and I needed to find my own way to the train station. I had two choices -- bus or bike. During the fair weather I take my bike. The stretch along the North Service BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com Pud road to Speers and down to Hogs Back Park then up to the GO Station is a killer. In contrast, a pedestrian walkway under the new QEW bridge extension would land you on Lyons Lane, which is an easy level-push to Cross Avenue and the GO Train station. So about a year ago I started asking if anyone had any plans to accommodate twowheel travellers like me. So far, I have not been able to determine if the new bridge will have pedestrian access. I also approached the GO people about a cantilevered walkway parallel to the GO Train track starting a Kerr street. The reply I got was not satisfactory. It seems GO are planning to expand the train bridge over Sixteen Mile Creek to accommodate another set of tracks, but a parallel pedestrian walkway, which is tech- nically feasible, was deemed to be unsafe. Unsafe! Sustainable development (SD) will be the focus of a workshop at McMaster University scheduled this coming November. We plan to bring the three levels of government, utilities, contractors, consultants and academia together to discuss how we can reduce our footprint, save energy and make our communities a fun place to be. Anyone who wants more information on the SD Workshop or wants to support the idea of better pedestrian access between neighbourhoods in the Town of Oakville is encouraged to contact Ruth Sutherland or myself at the Energy Studies Office of McMaster University (ERC@McMaster.ca). FRANK LENARDUZZI The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council.The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206,Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.