AGGREGATE COMPANIES BECOMING EVEN MORE BRAZEN

The Woolwich Observer did an excellent job of covering the attempts to receive official sanction from Woolwich Council for a proposed gravel pit in Maryhill. Their story in yesterday's newspaper is titled "Maryhill gravel pit proposal meets with widespread pushback". Capitol Paving are looking for official plan and zoning changes to allow them to turn four properties totalling 230 acres into a sprawling gravel pit just outside the village of Maryhill. Prior to this week's public meeting there were more than a hundred letters of opposition sent to the township.

One resident correctly stated that an industrial operation does not belong in a residential community. Another suggested that property values for homes in and around Maryhill were likely to drop thirty to fourty percent. Former councillor and mayoralty candidate Bonnie Bryant suggested that due to the negative impacts on surrounding homes, farms and businesses that "This pit is not a compatible land use.".

The Merry-Hill Golf Club are in opposition to the pit as is St. Johns-Kilmarnock School. There is a cardiac clinic at the corner of Shantz Station Rd. and Hopewell Creek Rd. Doctor JohnSchaman advised that a nearby gravel pit would be devastating to the tranquility and serenity of the treatment centre. Truck traffic alone would be loud, increasing congestion and associated problems.

Clearly Capitol Paving are in for a rough ride. So will Woolwich Council if they do not heed local advice on this matter.