The introductory presentation from the Jan 27 public meeting on the Medway Valley ESA is now available here
The full presentation is available on the City’s website at http://www.london.ca/residents/Environment/Natural-Environments/Documents/Medway-Public-Meeting-2.pdf.
The City will be hosting a Community Information Meeting for the Medway Valley Heritage Forest Environmentally Significant Area, Conservation Master Plan:
Date: Monday January 27, 2014
Time: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Location: Sir Frederick Banting S.S. (in Cafeteria) 125 Sherwood Forest Sq. London
The final report from the consultants who did the natural heritage inventory of the Medway Valley is on the City’s website. It is quite impressive.
The document can be found at the following web site. (This is a large document – 66 MB. ) City staff have been asked to also place a hard copy on hold at the Sherwood Branch of the Library (to be confirmed).
Community Meeting – Wed, Jan 29
The next community meeting will be on Wednesday, January 29th starting at 7:00 pm in the Orchard Park Public School gym. There will be coffee (supplied by Councillor Branscombe) and treats. Councillor Branscombe and the Sherwood Forest School site committee hope to bring you an update on the future of the school site. Also, city staff will provide an update on the proposed secondary suite (“Granny Suite”) by-law. City staff will also update us on its Adopt an ESA program program. Volunteers from the community will be invited to participate. The other item of business will be a summary of the city’s presentation on the Medway Valley Conservation Master Plan. Please contact Sandy Levin if there are other matters you feel should come before the community at this meeting.
Many items in the news —
COMMUNITY MEETING
A Community meeting will be held in late January to update you on the Sherwood Forest School Site and the Medway Valley Environmentally Significant Area Conservation Master Plan. Look for an e-mail and flyer in your mailbox early in January
SHERWOOD FOREST SCHOOL SITE UPDATE
The Executive and School Site Committee have continued working to see if there is a way to retain at least some park land at the Sherwood Forest School site. The deadline for the public bodies, including the City and the other school boards, to make an offer to the Thames Valley District School Board is December 22. If no offers are received, the TVDSB then has a process to solicit sealed bids for the site. This will occur early in the new year. Any new purchaser at that point would have to apply to the City for a rezoning to the property. However, there would be no requirement for them to retain any green space. There would be a public process for any change in land use. Stay tuned.
ADOPT an ESA (Environmentally Significant Area)
The city has asked for community groups like ours to sponsor an ESA. Naturally for us this would mean the Medway Valley Heritage Forest. The projects suggested would include buckthorn busting, litter clear up (thankfully not a big problem in our area), tree planting (which we have done successfully). The action item is if there is someone in the area who is willing to lead, particularly in ensuring we meet the requirements of the program. Have a look at the program guide.
After you have had a chance to look it over, please let Sandy know if you are interested in taking on the lead in organizing events and reporting back to the city or in helping to form a working group to take this on. The plan is to discuss this program at the upcoming January meeting.
DO YOU HAVE A COPY OF “ORCHARD PARK THROUGH THE AGES”?
“Orchard Park Through the Ages” was a publication prepared by Orchard Park Public School as a 25th anniversary project about 25 years ago. Dyanne Wheatley is looking for a copy. If you can help her, write her at (dywheatley1787@rogers.com)
RENTAL LICENSING – an easy way to look up if a house is licensed to have renters
Recently a rental look up became available through the City’s website. It actually includes more than rental information. Click here for the site, but if it does not work just go to the City’s website and key in rental units, then click on PROPERTY INQUIRY SYSTEM and go from there.
MEDWAY SENIORS’ EVENT
WHEN: Wednesday, December 11th from 2 to 3 p.m.
WHERE: Sherwood Library
WHAT: “Christmas Social and Celebration of Holiday Traditions”
Please join us to share. We plan to share some readings, holiday trivia, music and good cheer.
This event is free with no registration required. Bring a friend! For more information, call 519-473-9965.
GRANNY SUITES / SECONDARY DWELLING UNITS
The Planning Act, through changes made by Bill 140 Strong Communities through Affordable Housing Act, 2011, requires municipalities to update their Official Plan policies and regulations related to secondary dwelling units.
The City of London Official Plan currently provides for secondary dwelling units within single and semi-detached dwellings subject to conditions. Now with changes made by Strong Communities through Affordable Housing Act, 2011, the Official Plan must include polices for secondary dwelling units as-of-right within townhouse and accessory structures in addition to single and semi-detached dwellings.
City Staff proposed our area as one of the Great Near Campus Neighbourhoods, be excluded as it is contrary to the effort to halt the proliferation of rental properties. This is because there is no easy way to police if a granny suite is for a family member or just a rental unit. However, Council referred this matter back to staff for further consultation. Sandy has been in touch with the city’s planning staff to arrange a meeting for the Executive prior to staff reporting back to City Council.
You can find the staff report as item #14 at this link:
http://sire.london.ca/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=591&doctype=AGENDA
SARNIA ROAD WIDENING
In the recently tabled City 10-year capital plan, city staff are now estimating budget approval for this project in 2020.
The City of London and the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority worked with the local community to pull invasive buckthorn at Medway Valley Heritage Forest last week.
See the video:
Orchard Park / Sherwood Forest Neighborhood Association 