By Pepper Parr
April 26, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
The Gazette has run a comments section since the day we started up.
There are some people who abuse the privilege – there are some who think writing comments in the Gazette is a God given right.
There are a number of people, far too many if I do say so myself, who see the comments as irresponsible and not really serving any purpose.
There are others who comment frequently and add significantly to the body of information we use to make decisions.
We got a comment from Phillip Wooster this morning that we want to share.
He was responding to a comment made by another reader who had commented on the decision city council made to declare a Climate Emergency.
Let Phillip tell you what he learned.
I can attest about your comment about building in a flood plain. In 1979, while I was considering buying a house backing onto Tuck Creek, I had a choice between one north of Spruce on Regal Road and another south of Spruce. I happened to have a chance meeting with a farmer who had owned property at Lakeshore and Pine Cove in the 1950’s. He told me to buy south of Spruce–when I asked why, he told me that north of Spruce was a flood plain. In 1954, Hurricane Hazel turned the area into a lake; he said if there was another such weather event, the same thing would happen. And in 2014, guess where the flooding occurred. WHO KNEW????
Tuck Creek
There are few real estate agents in town who will tell you what Phillip has known for years.
Thank you Phillip.
Salt with Pepper is the opinions, reflections,musings and observations of the Gazette Publisher
Comments like Phillip’s provide valuable detail that may not have been available from other sources and raise many questions worthy of a follow up,
I often do not agree with comments posted here, but I do appreciate the effort that the poster made to share their point of view. Why would we not want to hear what our neighbour’s concerns and opinions are.
Finally, I would think that the BG would like to know that someone is reading these articles.
Comments like Phillip’s provide valuable detail that may not have been available from other sources and raise many questions worthy of a follow up,
I often do not agree with comments posted here, but I do appreciate the effort that the poster made to share their point of view. Why would we not want to hear what our neighbour’s concerns and opinions are.
Finally, I would think that the BG would like to know that someone is reading these articles.
Editor’s note: The comments are read; some quite heavily. We know how many people made comments on each article.
A follow-up to my earlier comment. One group that clearly knows about the flood plain in the Tuck Creek watershed is Halton Region Conservation Authority. In 1999, I was considering an addition on the back of my house which backs onto Tuck Creek. I had to get an inspector from HRCA to sign off on the application for a building permit. He told me my project did slightly infringe on the floodplain which was established by the high water mark of Hurricane Hazel. In 1954, the water level of Tuck Creek had filled the entire valley south of Spruce but it did not break the top of the valley.