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Page 6 Whitby Fri. Prss, Wednesday, September 28,1994 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents! MEMBER OF: ONTARIO CANADIAN COMMUNITY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER+CM T NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION Ezn373CANADIAN CIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD ISSN#0844-398X The Whitby Free Press is distributed free to 99% of the homes ln Whitby, Brooklin, Ashbum & Myrtle as well as numerous public and commercial outiets in Whitby, Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering & Port Perry. 27,000 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE Canada $32 + GST • Outside Canada $75 + GST Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Inc. Box 206, 131 Brock St. N., Whitby, Ontario L1N 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Out of town: 1-800-668-0322 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Publisher Maurice Pifher - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimum 20% recycled content using vegetable based inks. e Ail written material, illustrations and advertising contained herein is protected by co Any reproduction by any means-for commercial purposes without the express permis the newspaper ls prohlbited and is a violation oftCanadian copyright law. Reproducti non-commercial distribution should bear a credit fine to the whitby Free Press. 1mT tsuhe edir... Enforce existing traffic laws To the editor: It would seem that the so-called, traffic-calming devices in Whitby have had the exact opposite effect. than intended. The only true calming device is a contented, calm driver, and putting obstructions in the middle of an intersection only creates more frustration no matter what name we give to the obstruction. I, and many drivers such as myself, would sooner bypass Whitby than drive through it due to the myriad of stop signs, etc. and do our business elsewhere -- to the chagrin of the merchants. Roundabouts, to give them their proper name, were first introduced to England after the war by the succession of Labour governments who like all things to be in lockstep and neatly pigeon-holed, when traffic there consisted mainly of bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles and transport trucks that were limited to 20 miles per hour. Cars were not readily available and those that were cost too much for the general public. Before then we had stop signs, yield signs and normal traffic patterns that worked quite well. However, this was changed in order to make things idiot-proof -- a condition that will only exist when traffic stops altogether. Over the years, one-way streets, concrete centre road barriers and dead-end streets have created more problems than they have solved and it is quite common in England to travel two to three miles to the next 'Ranabout' just to get from one side of the road to the other. Only here we are talking about city streets, and this in a land where, due to exchange rates and buying power, fuel costs three to four times as much as it does here. The resultant fuel consumption only adds to the pollution, the predominant smell there being petrol and diesel exhaust fumes. It this what we really want for Whitby? Some years ago I had a from England who was a L bobby and he was delighte our traffic flow,. saying occasion, "If only it was like home." Incidentally, we had roundabouts in Ontario in thE and iixties -- at Kingst Highway 2, at Stoney Cree at Niagara Falls on the QE were removed as traffic hazE We have ample sound l the books now for trafficc Al we require is a respi them, some common co some not-.so-common sen. better enforcement. How times have you seen people up at the sign of an ambe make righthand turns from lane and vice versa; sit at a light to make a left turn, r many opportunities while) for an oncoming vehicle tha to 400 feet from the inters only to proceed through t after the light has turned1 usually trailing two or threî cars with them, thus depriv drivers with a green lightc right to move? I have eve police cars do this. How many people on blades, bicycles, mopeds an the electric invalid carrage travelled on the wrong side road into the oncoming flow? These are the proble which we should be concen When i went to shooli exercise bocks had the p traffic laws printed n thi cover and we were obliç recite these in class and p them on the streets. The enforcement of e laws will do more tha ill-advised monument to politician stuck in the centre road. t's almost the par crime control, not gun contr Let us put the emphasis it truly belongs and tombstones in intersections. G.G yI pyright. sion of on for By Michael Ewasyn Whitby Since reading several different revews of the new bilo163) proposed byttheMinisthof Municipal Affairs in regardsta planning matters and municipal conflict,-f interest guidelines, I mustt confesstthat. Iamnan advocate of many of the proposais. While there are those in their political positions whf feel that they are well in tune with the harmony of the people thnwere elected tk serve, annare constantly preaching this,often the contraryexists. Open and accessible government was one of the reasons that this bill was drafted ta romake. ur administrations more vistor accountable for their actions. dten There was a need ta restore some d ihof the public trust that seemed ta j.on fading with each move of I tee seen. on fioin Affer ail that I have observed rn on and the denialsfor proper :W. Ail explanations. .i was very cléar that ards. many 0f my concerns and those of others phould have been heard. To aws Onl be an effeéctive watchdog, I needed contri. ta see and hear more without the mct for usual administrative stonewalling urtesy, tactics of those who feel that what se and records are kept are only for miany 'municipal ownership and use. e Our local government and r ight;those in Ortario's other 829 ia.left municipalities are now getting a in thefi r much stronger message sent to fl1551ng themr about planning and municipal waiting matters. Likewise, t was important is 300 ta tune in the developers to the ect ion, conservation *and preservation of he turn aur environment from a paint of tored, view which extends beyond eother marketability, profits and the ing the illusions they give of providing jobs gf their and homes ta those in need. racse sn As a cncerned citizen, Ioften iroîler find that there are certain issues id even that I cannt allw ta pass s have unchallenged. But over the caurse of the of time during my involvement into traffic local municipal matters, such as a oms on bar' s liquor licence, or the planning îrating. and developmeontff a local ail he wetland, there suddenly appears an ertinent air of controversy and, e back conveniently, a visit fom an gedi ta overzealous property standards Sactise off icer. You make inquiries and after 9xisting much aggravation frors the pn any admninstrator and clerk (both f sam whom are the superiars of the bylaw officer), you then use the aliel of privacy and information process via l. *the caommissioner's office and you , where learn that an anonymous councillor not has made the allegatians against 1 you. Reed The privacy commission does Vhitby not know how ta deal with any personal animosity cases or malicious acts concerning government employees. They admit that many other citizens feel that these 'conflicts of interest' exist, but often are difficult to prove. Thus when the opportunity came to draft legislation to create more of the acid tests that were part of Bill 163, I participated. Judging by- some of the comments, there are many more conveying much the same message across the province. They are all looking for checks and balances in a system that. seemed to be slipping into local government favour. Unfortunately, in reading the opinions expressed by the different politicians and developers, I never read the part about giving an extra bit of power to the municipalities to trespass on one's land in order to confirm someone's suspicions. That trespass which the governments are seeking includes the invasion of your home for an "inspection" of sorts (this issue was conveniently overlooked). Hopefully, this would not be interpreted by the inspectors to mean entry without a search warrant from an impartial judge. All too often it is just an oroier to do so from the municipal clerk or administrator's office. My personal experience has shown that this kind of power can easily be* abused by a bylaw enforcement officer, police officer, building inspector, To the editor: Just recently I have been collecting signatures to save Lynde Marsh. It is an area my family, friends and I have enjoyed for years, close by, easily accessible along the baseline road towards Ajax. The adjacent lands are to be developed on a huge scale, to the certain detriment of the marsh. To the elected officials who have an opportunity to reverse what I feel has been a fundamental error in future planning, I'd like to say how surpriing it was to hear how very strpngly people feel about guarding their local environment. I realize to reconsider and change this decision would be quite a task, but for what better cause with benefits reaching far into the future. Once the housing is built, the damage is irreparably done and ideal parkland lost forever. I attended a birding weekend in Kingston where I met .other people interested in Ontario's -.itque firefighter or even a tax assessor. who would want access to your home. I have heard the cliché "my front door is always open" ail too often from those in the system, when what they really mean to say is "my back door works just fine." By the opinions expressed, some of these people really fear public scrutiny. Actually they bring it upon themselves when they refuse to respond to public concerns. This, in turn, creates a negative history in the public eye. Rt is important to constantly review and question the policies and procedures that our local governments and their administrations -wish to follow. After ail, I h e no say in the choice of depa ment heads. -And when you feel there is a need to express discontent or you have found fautt, you will not be told to refrain from pointing it out. The public element is about to.take on a new light to the developers, planners, councils and administrations of our local governments. Perhaps they will learn that it is botter to work with people instead of over the people. Also it is important to teach the bureaucracy out there that they are not the only ones who have the powers to create and pass policies and procedural bylaws. Bill 163 has something for everyone who was included in the process of drafting this legislation. offerings. The expert naturalist from Ottawa was aware of the Lynde/Cranberry marshes and the two people from Toronto visit the area often. To develop the surrounding land into natural parkland as an alternative (and protect the marsh in doing so) would generate tourism dollars as a bonus for Durham Region. Whitby has subdivisions as far as the eye can see and room for more in less sensitive areas. Do we really . need another manicured parkette? People of all ages need open land, water and natural forest areas. t is essential for human growth. We are about to lose one of the finest wildlife habitats in Southern Ontario (which we could make even better). Let's -turn this area into a national park we can be proud of, not another urban development. The final decision is being made now. Attend the meeting tonight (Wednesday) at the Whitby municipal building and help make it. Forever Whitby resident L Moyle Seeking checks and balances National park suggested Imm