PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 1981, WHITBY FREE PRESS w h itb y (.ub lished eerywednesday by I.B51 ublishing ansd lPhotography [ne. Phone 669-6111 %À i yThe Free Press Huilding Voice of the County Town Michael lan Burgess, Publisher - Managing Editor 1:1 Brock Street North, he only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by whithy re-sidents for Whitby residents. P.). B>ox 206. Whitby, Or Michael J. Knell Community Editor Marjorie A. Burgess Production Manager Karen Thompson Advertising Manager Mailing Permit No 480 Member of the Whitby Chamber of Commerce g. nt. Brooklin will be a political decision Confusion reigned supreme at last Thursday's special meeting of Durham Regional Council. The special meeting of "council-in-the-commit- tee-of-the-whole" was called by Region9l Chair- man Gary Herrema so that the 30 councillors could ask questions, be informed and debate the proposed development of the Hamlet of Brooklin. The proposal of First City Developments and its daughter company, Consolidated Building Cor- poration, is designed to increase the population of the village to 10,500 over a ten year period. This proposai has been the subject of debate and controversy for the last seven years and with a little luck it may be finally put to rest within the next month or so. At last Thursday's meeting there was a clear demonstration that not ail regional politicians or staff have a good understanding of the ramifications of the project. That means that the rest of us are even more confused. It is not our intent here to address the merits of the First City proposal, but merely to point out the difficulties that politicians are encountering. Firstly, councillors were given two different reports that held two opposite opinions, both of which were written by senior staff. Dr. Mofeed Michael, Commissioner of Planning, has recommended that the application of an of- ficial plan amendment that will allow the project to go ahead be denied on the grounds that it does not fulfill the concepts of good planning and that the Region of Durham will not need to extend the trunk water supply and sewer services in the near future. On the other hand, Finance Commissioner Jack Gartley and Public Works Commissioner Bill Twelvetrees based their report on the assumption that the Region of Durham will have to extend the service in the near future. Councillors were faced with two different repor- ts from their senior staff that were based on two entirely different sets of assumptions. If the senior staff had been instructed to write their reports using the same set of assumptions, coun- cil would probably have a clearer picture of the situation. In fact, council would have been much better off had it instructed senior staff to prepare two different reports, one based on a pro-assumption and another based on a con-assumption. Having these two sides of the story would facilitate a bet- ter decision. As it stands now, councillors can either use Michael's report for turning down the project or can use Gartley's and Twelvetree's report for giving it the green light. Informed sources also tell us that staff are still divided on the issue. It is acknowledged that this proposai has been before both Whitby Town Council and Durham Regional Council for some seven years and that a final decision should be made within the foreseeable future. However, it is becoming more and more apparent that not all of the long range ramifications of the project are known. Regional Councillor Ed Kolodzie (Oshawa) hit the nail on the head when he told his colleagues that the decision they would make would be a political decision and not one based on sound planning or financial principles. There is nothing especially wrong with this, but it should be pointed out that a political decision should be based on sound judgment and an acknowledgement by councillors of their respon- sibilities to the people they represent. Brooklin will be a political decision and its fate will be decided for various political reasons. During the municipal election campaign that was held last November the politicians made great strides to impress upon the rest of us the need for more development. The growth in development is needed to keep property tax increases down, to keep down future increases in the water and sewer user rates and to provide a promising future for the Region of Durham. It has been predicted that, and we concur, because of the demonstrated need for develop- ment, councillors will forsake some of their dearly held planning and financial policies in order to gain what they believe to be a good thing for the region. This opinion does not hold that the develop- ment of Brooklin is an undesirable thing and recognizes the needs of the existing village for growth, for water and sewer services and a chance to become more prosperous. However, what must be questioned is the method in which the region is attempting to deal with the proposal and the political motivations of its individual councillors. At this point in time one would not be wrong in stating that the region will probably give its blessing to First City and that may not necessarily be a bad thing. i I -11