The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

PAGE 6, WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14,1988 fe wu VOICE OF THE COUNTY TOWN Published every Wednesday By 677209 Ontario Inc. Phone: 668-6111' *C The only Whitby newspaper Independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. Doug Anderson Publisher Maurice Pifher Editor Peter Irvine Advertising Manager Alexandra Simon Production Manager Let's hope that the municipal election this fall brings a new, more clear outlook on the part of Whitby politicians as to what is affordable housing and how to provide it. Just last week, administrative committee members were again critical of the sale to investors of condo units in a proposed townhouse development at Brock and Manning Rd. One councillor, Joe Drumm, lamented that the investment was not helping local residents. Mayor Bob Attersley said it was example of how frustrating it can be for municipalities to provide "variable housing," especially with the Province pressuring municipalities to provide such housing. We get the impression that the development Where now? might have been attractive to councillors had it not been pre-sold to investors, but rather open to all area residents. Not so with another high density development proposed by Caincastle for the Otter Creek area. Acting on the wishes of many area residents, as well as Whitby council, Joe Bugelli argued against it at the regional level. The result - high density, perhaps more affordable housing, will give way to low density residential development, just as existing area residents wanted. Planning departments. in both the Town and Regian supported the higher density development, and why not? If such housing is more affordable, then where else will it go? Relatively few developments are underway in Whitby providing other than low density. It would seem that this was a lost opportunity to obtain more affordable housing, while the BrockManning plan doesn't now appear to hold much promise of cheaper housing. As one resident, Bruce Langer, put it last week to Whitby administrative committee, "Take the lesson." We hope that these learning experiences will in the near future spell a clearer direction toward "affordable" accommodation. LETTERS FROM OUR READERS Thickson Pt. residents don't look forward to berm To the editor: In Debbie Luchuk's article of Aug. 31 about LASCO' berm, I feel that some points are incor- rect or misrepresented. According to the article, Henry Kortekaas stated that, "It is apparent from public meetings that the local residents look for- ward to the construction of the berm. The longterm effect will be positive, both in relation to the adjacent industrial lands and the Crystal Beach Community." (Thickson Point Community). This would be true: IF - The berms could myster- iously appear landscaped in their final format to provide a visual buffer from the eyesore of stock- To the editor· It makes one very provoked to think that senior citizens in Canada are forced to pay income tax on a few dollars they earn on part-time jobs to try and better their standard of living. It's obvious that our govern- ment in Ottawa knows that senior citizens can barely make ends meet on Canada and old age pensions. The hard part is that many of our senior citizens are unable to pay the income tax piled crushed cars, billowing. smoke, etc., that we presently see. IF - We were not to be subject- ed to 15-20 years of construction dust, noise pollution, the constant sight and fumes from heavy trucks, bulldozers, etc. IF - We could feel 100 per cent that the quantity or quality of our well water would be unaffected riegatively in future decades. IF - We could feel 100 per cent confident that the air we breathe daily is safe from LASCO's wind-- blown metal-lader particulate matter, since we are downwind of the prevailing winds. IF - We could feel 100 per cent confident that the Town of Whit- by's drinking water would also be burden at the deadline. They forward postdated cheques cashable at the end of each month as their Canada and old age pension cheques are received. The tax revenue bank goes as low as to force senior citizens to pay interest on the postdated cheques - a disgraceful situation. Billions of dollars spent on foreign aid and the enormous SÈE PAGE 11 Improve the services To the editor: Now that Whitby's population is that of a city, it's about time the thinking of our politicans rose to the occasion. rve never seen such in- adequate services and pre- paration for a fast growing area. I've been a resident of Toronto for 39 years before moving to Whitby. I love Whitby, my home and location, but Im afraid that's where it stops. Schools are in such demand, local transit is mickey-mouse, taxes ¯are ridiculously high, the so-called downtown business district is a joke. Every so often different events are run to encourage business in the Dundas/Brock area but most of the shops look like they should be burned down. Why would anyone come to the four corners when the Oshawa Centre offers so much more? Perhaps someone should look into why the likes of Unionville's business strip is so successful. It might have something to do with appearance. Ail we have is Whitby Lanes and Pearson Lanes to attract people and they're off the beaten track. Come on, Attersley and company! Wake up! Whitby could provide better shopping. schools, realty taxes, etc. Businesses should be ordered to clean up or ship out. Maybe the same approach should apply to Town council. Happy but frustrated, A Pringle Creek resident (Name withheld by request) unatlected in the future. We definitely do not look for- ward to the construction of the berms. The same article quotes Ron Deeth of LASCO as saying, "The ratepayers wanted the (exper- imental) berm." This is definitely not true. We were not even made aware of the test berm until it was already very much in existence. What we did ask for at one of the Town council meetings and in print was a two-year test period on the experimental berm. This would permit: (a) more viable, longer term test results from leachate, collecting ponds, SEE PAGE 13 Reader agrees: development out of control To the editor: As a resident of the east ward, I am in sympathy with J. Priest's letter regarding development that appears to out of control. In this area of the town, most of the problems facing residents appear to be caused by poor plan- ning procedures. For example, the approval of site plans for car lots with no provision for the un- loading of car transports causes major traffic jams on Dundas St., or approving site plans for the addition to the Whitby Mall to house GM and EDS offices with no increase in parking facilities (anyone trying to shop at Miracle Mart knows how hard it is to find a parking space). Approval of stadium type light- ing at the Passport dealership on Dundas St. E., immediately be- hind the residences on Bowman Ave. causes light pollution pro- blems for homeowners - this plan approved after the fact that the OMB had decreed task lighting for the adjacent Canadian Tire Store to spare the Bowman res- idents from this light pollution problem. Approving site plans for Decom is another! I will give my support in No- vember to any candidate that will bring the sweet voice of reason to future planning decisions and bring some order to the chaos we appear to be in. I would also like to see future conditions of em- ployment for senior Town offi- cials, i.e. planning director, Town engineer, that they be residents of the town. If they had to live with the decisions they make, the way the rest of us do, we may get some sanity back into develop- ment. F. Townsend Director Corridor Area Ratepayers Association Unfair to seniors L -A The Free Press Building 131 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206, Whitby, Ont.