Newcastle Bond Head Ratepayers Association

A Gift of Art at 187 King Ave. E. in Newcastle is offering a free speaker series on Thursdays from 1:30-2:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome. Upcoming speakers include:

• February 28 – Christine Murphy: Humane Society of Durham
• March 7 – Marilyn Glassford: Lakeshore Tours
• March 21 – Kiley Percy: Clarington Public Library
• March 28 – Sheila Burns: Primrose Donkey Sanctuary
• April 4 – Mayor Adrian Foster: Your Clarington – an update

Refreshments are free – but the conversation that follows will be “priceless.” For more information, call 905-987-2264.

President David Saunders called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and welcomed our speaker, Councillor Willy Woo.

Councillor Woo, who was retiring after 12 years in the local and Regional Council, opened with a slide presentation and reminisced about the old times that he experienced in the village. He showed pictures of the Green Leaf restaurant that his folks owned and where he and his siblings lived. His father, who arrived in Canada in 1912, and his mum were the hub of Newcastle for many years. Willy was involved with many village activities such as arranging for the old Newcastle Public School plaque monument on Beaver Street or setting up the Town Hall Christmas lights with Rod MacArthur. He mentioned how proud his mum was when he first became a councillor in 2006. It brought back many memories for the old people in the room. [continue reading…]

Fall is fully upon us with shorter days, trees that are colouring and our regular season of ratepayer meetings and activities. The election is behind us and we are proud to have partnered with the Chamber of Commerce to have put on a forum for all Ward 4 candidates. The end of this effort was to enable people to go to the polls with clear insight into each of the candidates and therefore be better able to make informed choices. That they did and we have a new Council.

This is just another example of how Ratepayers connects community-minded citizens. The Association (you) continues to address issues and events which affect the quality of life in our community as they arise.

Please consider taking your place at the General Meetings which always include high quality speakers who address topics of current interest. The meetings are held in the Lion’s Room in the Community Hall 4 times a year – or as announced. Every home owner or renter are welcomed and encouraged to join.

The next meeting will be Tuesday, November 27 beginning at 7 p.m. Willie Woo will be the speaker. We hope to see you there. This is your association.

Padre David Saunders
President

President David Saunders called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. He asked all present to remember the passing of Art Wynn.

Jill Richardson welcomed our speaker, Marian Timmermans. Both of these ladies are part of the Clarington Hospice committee. Mrs. Richardson experienced the undignified death of her husband in the hospital and Ms. Timmermans was exposed to this situation for many years as a nurse.

Marian explained that our Region is the only one without a Hospice and it has taken 5 years of hard work to get this project started. Land on the east side of Cobbledick Road has been donated by Clarington and the plans for a 5 bed Hospice is in place and includes an easy access for a 5 bed extension. Whitby is building a 10 bed Hospice and Port Perry, a 5 bed Hospice. [continue reading…]

We are pleased to announce that our next General meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 25, 2018 in the Newcastle Lions room starting at 7 p.m.

We are fortunate to have as our speaker, Marian Timmermans, from the Durham Hospice Committee. Marian will be bringing us up to date on this necessary compassionate residence.

Durham Hospice web site:

https://durhamregionhospice.ca/

Durham Hospice location:

https://www.clarington.net/en/town-hall/resources/Planning-eUpdate/2018/090618.pdf

Re: Plan to establish a Heritage Park lying between Belmont House and the east bank of Wilmot Creek, Newcastle, ON

Last night, the Planning and Development Committee of Municipal Council voted to approve an amendment No.117 to the Official Plan to give effect to this large residential development west of Ruddell Road, north of Highway 2. The Planning Services report is numbered: PSD–068–18. Final approval should occur when Council meets on September 17 and, hopefully, ratifies the actions of last night’s meeting of the Planning and Development Committee.

Significantly, the amendment establishes a Heritage Park area precisely where we want it to be. It will be approximately 3 acres in size, creating an open space vista of Belmont House and plenty of room for heritage recognition opportunities such as interpretative plaques and graphics, suitable benches and other park-like furniture, creation of connective trails and walkways, and so on. Moreover, the two development companies have agreed to contribute to the costs of this infrastructure in addition to their more than generous land dedication. We are very impressed by their sense of public responsibility.

There is a lot of work ahead of us to ensure the fruition of the Heritage Park. For example, a faction amongst the Planners would like to see a “multi-functional” Park, including swing sets, teeter-totters, splash pads, and not just purely Heritage recognition. However, according to their own Report, there are more than an adequate number of neighbourhood parks in the area, north and south of Highway 2. Then, there are the particulars of design to best achieve our goals; we MUST be part of this process and we may be calling upon a couple of volunteers to sit on a Design Review Committee.

Anyway, I wanted to tell you that in the past few months we have come MILES from the direction this subdivision plan was headed – Belmont House severed from the historic links to Wilmot Creek and completely surrounded by proposed roadways and 30’ housing lots. This achievement was made possible by two, incredibly dedicated people, Vic Suppan and Myno Van Dyke.

Bob Malone
President

President Bob Malone called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and welcomed our speaker, Mr. Joseph Koo, proprietor and pharmacist of the Newcastle and Port Hope Shoppers Drug Marts. There were 17 present.

Mr. Koo opened his talk with some personal history. He explained that he had been a biochemist longer than he had been with Shoppers Drug Mart and studied opioids on the molecular level.

His excellent slide presentation showed us the many effects of drugs on a person’s health. His motto was, “If possible, the less drugs the better”. In some cases over time, the body will heal itself! [continue reading…]

Our next General meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 29, 7 p.m. in the Newcastle Lions room, Newcastle Community Hall.

Speaker: Mr. Joseph Koo, Newcastle Shoppers Drug Mart Proprietor and Pharmacist

His topic will be about the opioid crisis. There will be a Q&A after his presentation. All are welcome; bring your neighbours!

There were a number of questions at our last meeting regarding the Brookhouse development in Newcastle – Linda Couto, from the Mayor’s office has answered:

There are three plans of subdivision in the area with a total of 958 units.

The original plans of subdivision by Smooth Run Developments (also known as DG Group or Metrus) and Brookfield Residential have been draft approved.  Combined they are 926 units.  At the last Council meeting, an extension was granted so that their first phase had to be registered by 2024.  This is because regional sewer and water constraints and their capital forecast for the timing for the construction of additional capacity and trunk sewers/feedermains.

The third draft plan of subdivision application by Brookfield Residential is currently in process.  It would add an additional 32 units.

Eventually there will be other development lands brought on to the north and on the west side of Mill Street.  This requires a secondary plan.

The plans provide for a grade separation over the CPR at Arthur Street eventually.