Not happy with Cookstown by-pass proposal

Dear editor,

Three years ago, my husband and I purchased some acreage from my parents that was part of my grandparent's old farm just east of Cookstown on Highway 89. We built our dream home and have plans to raise our family and retire here.

We realized when we made this decision that highway 89 would have to expand and that a by-pass would have to be created to ease the congestion through Cookstown.

However, nothing could have prepared us for the shock when we attended the Public Information Session in Cookstown regarding the by-pass proposal on September 14.

Two of the proposed by-passes could affect our family property. The proposals suggest building a new road around Cookstown. The northern proposal would cut through our property or our surrounding neighbours'. The southern proposal could cut through my parent's property. This proposed new road would essential destroy these and many more agricultural properties.

It is equally disturbing that none of the already established municipal roads are even being considered as an alternate option. It would seem logical that widening and improving a pre-existing road would be more cost-efficient than expropriating land from local farmers and building a brand new road. When did it become okay to destroy farm land?

I was stupefied that the zoning maps and the environmental maps that were shown were not accurate. When we pointed the errors out to the representatives from the MTO and consulting agency, they both put the blame on the township (Innisfil) for giving them inaccurate maps.

Our property and others in the area were partially zoned OSC2 in 1984 and that did not appear on their maps.

How can the public genuinely understand the impact of a proposal if the information they are being shown is false? It is important that the residents

of Innisfil and surrounding communities realize that this bypass proposal involves losing land that is zoned agricultural and open space conservation.

This is the stage in this study that the citizens and municipal government need to express to the province that this is not an acceptable solution. There have only been two information sessions about regarding this proposal.

Please make your concerns known now to: Mr. Mike Bricks Ecoplans Ltd. mbricks@ecoplans.com A very concerned resident, Sonia (Vernon) Prim