A resident forwards his letter to the editor.
I am sending the following letter which appeared in the Mercury Jan.9th on the off chance you may have missed it; just one of many concerned with this proposal. I fully realize the many decisions before the planning staff and yourselves at this time in Guelph’s development but just want to say again that I consider this proposed highrise to be a direct duplicate of Rochdale which later imploded on itself and we wouldn’t want the same thing to happen to our young people here. LR
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Re: Scott Tracey’s article Wed. Jan.4th Developer takes Plan to Province
I note with interest your article on the proposal to build off campus high rise student housing on the Best Western site on Gordon at Stone. Our community members see this as a destructive element to our neighbourhood.
As a resident of Mayfield Ave, I and many others canvassed the potentially affected area for reaction and found 100% against this proposal.
At the opportunity to address council, numerous impassioned pleas were made to stop this outrageous proposal. Outside of the designated speakers, i received permission to speak and I outlined my experience in the early sixties with what happened to an off campus site, namely Rochdale, in Toronto. With no University supervision, it became a centre for hard drugs and pursuant chaos. Students like my niece can vouch for all that caused its demise.
Why can’t we learn from past experiences and how can almost 100% of a community’s voice be ignored in our social democratic society?
I personally came in contact with the Rochdale group, my company having received its largest ever contract from them. I will personally assist any reader to contact anyone having been affected by the “Rochdale experience”. LR