Letters

Fully supportive of Southfields Village getting access to transit links

September 5, 2019   ·   0 Comments

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Hello, just a quick note to thank Sheralyn for a great article and to add my full support of Southfields Village finally getting the rush-hours Monday to Friday transit links via a leased line from Brampton Transit.  As the former Chair of the Southfields Village Residents Group, which I co-founded in 2010 and help to run for over 5 years, this transit link has been in the works for a long, long time. 

 As per the Mayfield West Master Plan developed by the Town of Caledon in 2007, part of the Provincial mandate for the Places To Grow Act involved new developments to be more walkable, have supporting elements for jobs and recreation as well as public transit.  Southfields Village was designed as a live, work and play community.  I am one of the very first persons to move into Southfields Village, being the 5th house to close in April of 2010.  Over these 9+ years, I’ve seen our community grow from just a few houses to over 3,000 mixed-density homes, a “downtown” retail and business core, multiple parks, schools and of course our fledgling Community Centre which is currently under construction (something I am very proud of as well with community involvement to shape what our Community Centre will offer).  We now have a bustling area of about 12,000 – 15,000 people which would make Southfields Village the second largest community in Caledon, next to the Village of Bolton. 

 I remember going door to door canvassing way back in 2010 with our then Ward 2 Regional Councillor Alan Thompson who was seeking re-election and discussing the future public transit mandate that will eventually come to our Village, when we have enough populous to support a leased line.  Over the years of my term as Chair of our Residents Group, we brought up the eventual transit needs in many of our public meetings and audio podcasts.   

 Today, with our population growth comes the need to move people more efficiently and environmentally friendly.  I see dozens and dozens of residents make the long trek down to Mayfield road currently to catch the #7 Brampton Bus for work, school and other needs.  Our new bus line starting next week will greatly aid in getting more people to use public transit and also help to provide transportation for residents of our newly opened Region of Peel Seniors building.  I’ve put the suggestion to the Town as well of eventually converting our buses over to a fully-electric model, as Brampton Transit has placed an initial order for some all-electric buses to be in place within the next couple of years.  What a shining example it would be of “One of the Greenest Towns in Canada” to portray by utilizing zero-emission public transit in addition to other initiatives!

 I’m sure there are some Southfields Residents who may not like the notion of public transit coming to our Village, however this is necessary and has been in our design fabric since day one.  I for one welcome it and thank our Mayor Allan Thompson and our Regional Councillor Johanna Downey for making sure the Town of Caledon delivers on this mandate. 

 Kenneth Bokor

Southfields Village resident

We need to do better

I read with interest the editorial by Mark Pavilons about  food waste that appeared in the August 22 issue.
I read with interest Mark Pavilon’s editorial from the August 22 issue.

I too am concerned about food waste and belong to a group called Gratitude for Food that is a project of ecoCaledon.

Most important in your article are the statistics that “Canada’s 2.2 million tonnes of avoidable household food waste is equivalent to 9.8 million tonnes of CO2 and 2.1 million cars on the road”. When we speak of Global Warming do we ever think about food waste? 

Look at how significant these numbers are. The toll would be so much less if this food, while still in good condition was distributed better. 

First, it could be offered to those that need it, through food banks and other programs where food is prepared and meals are served. Any excess then would go to feed animals and the 3rd step for any leftover and unavoidable food waste (cores and peels)can go to be composted.  

When organic material goes to landfill it creates methane gas, which is the most destructive of all greenhouse gases. Composting sequesters CO2 out of the atmosphere, so use your green bin at the very least.

There are easy things that we can all do to help curb household food waste. Make a list and don’t buy anything on impulse. Don’t shop when you are hungry. Use up what you have first rather than going back to the store. Don’t put more on your plate than you can eat.

At Gratitude for Food we are involved with an online program called FoodRescue.ca, which is a division of Second Harvest. We are going out to local restaurants and grocery stores asking them to sign up with FoodRescue.ca so that they can list the food that they have available for donation. Non-profit organizations within a 100 km radius can claim and arrange to pick up this food for free to use in their programs. This will significantly decrease the amount of CO2 produced as well as benefiting many people.

If you would like to help or you want more information please visit these websites ecoCaledon.org  or foodrescue.ca.

Susan Richards

Caledon resident

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