City budget alert – replanting for ash trees cut in Orchard Park/Sherwood Forest‏

One of the proposed cuts in the 2013 city budget is the elimination of the city’s Emerald Ash Borer program.

http://london.ca/Budget/pdf/33_Capital_-_Elimination_of_Emeral_Ash_Borer_Strategy_Funding.pdf

A number of street ash trees were removed in Fall 2012 in Orchard Park – Sherwood Forest. City staff were asked if the proposed budget elimination would curtail plans to replant the trees that have been cut. The simple answer was – YES.

If you are concerned about this, you may want to write or call (519-661-2500) the Mayor (jfontana@london.ca) and Councillor Branscombe (nbransco@london.ca) to express your point of view. Council begins its debate of the proposed budget on January 24th.

Town Hall meetings in January – London North Community Association

>The London North Community Association will be hosting two Town Hall meetings:

January 15, 2013
7:00-8:30 pm
North London Optimist Community Center, Room 2
1345 Cheapside Street

January 19, 2013
10:00-11:30 am
King’s College, Labatt Hall, Room 105

Please save the dates and plan to attend one or both meetings (the content is the same for both meetings).

Meeting Objectives
– Present Goodmans LLP review of Mr. Justice Howden’s decision and how it may apply to the City of London regarding the maximum number of tenants  that can reside in a R-1 zoned house.
– Provide an overview from the December 10th, 2012 meeting with the City of London Planning Department regarding Howden.
– Present the LNCA website and determine the next steps.

Update on Sherwood Forest School Site

The Board is still planning to close the school at the end of this school year (June 2013), even without the planned renovations at Orchard Park P.S. being complete. 

Continue reading “Update on Sherwood Forest School Site” →

Medway North Trailing Planning

The City of London is currently reviewing pathway and trail opportunities though the Medway Valley Heritage Forest as part of a City-wide project to document best practices for the planning and design of trails in Environmentally Significant Areas.

The time line for this project is as follows

  • November 7, 2012 – Public meeting to present trail options evaluation process and selection of the most preferred options.
  • December 7, 2012 – The Public is invited to provide comment until this date. See below for contact information.
  • December –January 2013 – preparation of the draft Trail Master Plan by city staff
  • January 17 2013 – City to post the draft Trail Master Plan on the city’s website
  • March/April 2013 – Final Trail Master Plan presented at a public participation meeting at the Planning and Environment Committee

Continue reading “Medway North Trailing Planning” →

Medway ESA North Trail Plan Meeting

An upcoming Medway Valley ESA North Trail Planning meeting is being held to provide information and gain community input for the evaluation of trail options and selection of the preferred option. The meeting is scheduled for:

Wednesday, November 7, 2012
6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Sunningdale Golf and Country Club
465 Sunningdale Road West

An invitation to the meeting is available here. Additional background information is at http://www.london.ca/d.aspx?s=/Planning_and_Development/Land_Use_Planning/Parks_Planning/Medway_trail.htm

The evaluation criteria and method used for this area of the Medway will be used in our part of the Medway during the update to the Conservation Master Plan which is scheduled to start next year. There will be lots of notice of meetings and the work plan. Stay tuned.

The city has also prepared an ESA Observation Form for use in all of the Environmentally Significant Areas of the city. The form will help the city in identifying invasive species, trail management issues, and inappropriate activities such as campfires, dogs off leash, bike ramps and the like. The form is still in test mode and will eventually be posted to the city’s web site as an on line form.