Planning meeting loses audience

It looked to be a good turnout for an evening public meeting in early November to talk about community planning for Champlain Township. Until the announcement that the proposed cement plant project for L’Orignal was not one of the topics for discussion.

“We had a whole crew of people there, expecting it was going to be about the cement plant,” said Mayor Gary Barton, regarding the Nov. 1 community planning and zoning bylaw review public meeting agenda.

Mayor Barton noted that at least threequarters

La plupart des résidents qui ont participé à une réunion publique du comité communautaire de planification pour le canton de Champlain, le 1er novembre, ont cru que le projet de cimenterie proposé par Colacem Canada serait le principal sujet de discussion. Ils ont tous quitté la réunion après avoir appris que le projet controversé n’était pas à l’ordre du jour.

of the people who showed up for the Wednesday evening public meeting left once they realized that Colacem Canada’s proposed cement plant project for L’Orignal was not on the list of topics. He observed that somehow, a large number of residents had gotten the mistaken impression that it would be the subject of the November planning meeting.

Mayor Barton and municipal staff explained that Champlain Township council had already voted against approving the company’s rezoning request for the property where Colacem wants to build the plant. The whole issue is now before the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) for a future review hearing.