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Brooklin Town Crier 2023 has been an amazing year for Whitby - and an amazing first year as mayor As 2023 draws to a close, so does my first year as Whitby's mayor. I am incredibly proud of what Whitby Council and the Town of Whitby have accomplished in 2023 and grateful to be able to share a few highlights from the past year with you. Strategic Plan One of my first priorities after being elected, was to work with residents and stakeholders to create a Community Strategic Plan. More than 3,000 people took part in the public engagement process and told us about their priorities for Whitby. The plan was approved by Council in June and includes 62 measurable action items, that be reported on annually so we can openly evaluate our progress. More doctors The Town took concrete action to bring more family doctors to our town by partnering with Oshawa Clinic Group to recruit and retain 10 new family physicians for the West Whitby Health Centre, set to open in summer 2024. Each physician will carry a roster of 1,000 patients by their third year of practice, resulting in 10,000 more residents with a local family doctor. The Town is also working with the Region of Durham on a Regional Family Physician Recruitment Program. New Hospital We continued to advocate for a new hospital in Durham, at the Whitby site announced by an independent panel in January 2021. Lakeridge Health is operating at capacity and needs 1,793 beds by 2041 -- more than double the current count. At the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in August, I was part of a delegation to Health Minister Sylvia Jones and Associate Minister Michael Tibollo, on the need for the province to support us on a new hospital. Through our #DurhamHealthMatters campaign, we are sharing the many reasons this is a top priority. Food insecurity In response to rising food insecurity, I hosted a roundtable with food bank leaders from across Whitby. As a result of that session, Feed the Need in Durham has partnered with the Town of Whitby to open a new "market model" food bank in Whitby. The Town will be offering former office space at Iroquois Park Sports Centre. Feed the Need is also the recipient of a $15,000 grant from the Mayor's Community Development Fund to help support this project. The food bank is expected to open in Spring 2024. Homelessness Homelessness has become a crisis in Whitby and across Durham. The Town of Whitby is supporting the Region of Durham's work to open a 45-bed shelter at 1635 Dundas St. E. as well as Durham's first family shelter on Brooklin's Community Newspaper Proud to be a Brooklinite Since 2000. Published 24 times per year. Editor, Richard Bercuson 613-769-8629 • editorofbtc@gmail.com • Circulation 8000 • Delivery via Canada Post Locally owned and operated. A publication of Appletree Graphic Design Inc. We accept advertising in good faith but do not endorse advertisers nor advertisements. All editorial submissions are subject to editing. For advertising information, contact: Email: mulcahy42@rogers.com Next Issue: Friday, January 12, 2024 Deadline: Friday, January 5, 2024 Brooklin TOWN CRIER.com From the Mayor: A summary of 2023 Colborne Street and a warming centre at Regional Headquarters in Whitby. I recently hosted a roundtable with Whitby's faith leaders to discuss how the Town can support them in supporting people who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Development Development is booming in Whitby. In September, we celebrated the groundbreaking of the new Whitby Sports Complex located on Baldwin Street south of Hwy 407. We also marked a ribbon-cutting for Station No. 3 condos - the biggest development to come to downtown Whitby in more than 30 years with 160 residential units and 10,000 square feet of retail space. A new Amazon sort Centre in Whitby, will be the largest in Ontario, creating 500 jobs, while the new Dockside development at the waterfront will include 1,500 residential units and 30,000 square feet of commercial and retail. Tourism Whitby upped its tourism activity in 2023, introducing new tourism branding with the tagline "discover something new to enjoy" and a new website and Instagram presence. As part of this work, the second edition of the Whitby Food Guide was released to showcase our amazing food scene (it's been viewed over 9,800 times!) and a Town Brewery pop-up at the Pumphouse brought new life to the waterfront this summer. We also increased our culture offerings, including two pop-up events this summer - Paint Night in the Park and Sala and Sunset - which drew more than 500 people combined. Safety Safety continues to be a major priority, especially when it comes to addressing speeding on our roads. The Town has committed to introducing new traffic calming measures on 10 streets each year and work is underway on a new Traffic Calming Policy. I recently brought police, school board and Town of Whitby representatives together for a community safety roundtable, and this group will be working on action items to make our school zones safer. These are just a few examples of what has been accomplished in 2023. There is so much on the horizon for 2024 that I can't wait to share with you. Elizabeth Roy is Mayor of the Town of Whitby