Roseland community organizations will take a look at what diversity is going to mean to the city

By Pepper Parr

February 8^th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

Covering the political meanderings of a city that can’t get over being the best place to live in the province and the 5^th best place to live in the country is a challenge at times.

How the city will deal with 29,000 new homes that can be expected to bring 60,000 new people to the already traffic choked streets leads to one word – diversity.

Get used to it.

Port Nelson United Church, the Roseland Community Organization and the Roseland Country Club have collaborated on a speaker series highlighting issues of interest and concern to residents of the Roseland neighbourhood and the wider Burlington community. The event will take place in the Roseland Room in Port Nelson United Church.

From health care to climate change to housing, the needs and opportunities in our community are diverse. This series presents different perspectives about issues, policies, local implementation and constraints to action.

The next event will focus on:

Those 29,000 new homes are expected to bring an additional 60,000 people to a city that has no experience dealing with such rapid growth.

Expect an overflow audience for this one.

Ontario has set robust targets for new housing development in the coming years. Each community in Ontario has its own goals as access to affordable housing becomes a growing concern.

While getting the building of the 1.5 million homes that the province wants to see built the government managed to embarrass itself and result in an RCMP investigation and reports from the provincial Integrity Commissioner that so far have resulted in two Cabinet Ministers losing their jobs and a third resigning and moving on to federal politics.

Locally, the issues are – what can we expect? What are we concerned about? And what difference is it all going to make?

The robust targets for new housing development will result in the kind of change the city has never been challenged with before. The need is for not only additional housing but housing people can afford. These are now growing concerns.

Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte, West End Home Builders Association CEO Mike Collins-Williams, and City of Burlington Manager of Policy and Community Alison Enns are the members of a panel that will be moderated by Don Baxter.