More political insanity in Ontario.
This time, a flat field in Ancaster is heritage.
NIBY's continue to win.
Ancaster resident Marc Bader remains on guard and ready for battle to protect the green space behind Ancaster High School.
“I am ready to fight just as I was ready four years ago,” when he began his battle to prevent the public school board from selling a portion of the property, said Bader in an interview.
Bader, who lives on Norma Crescent, can feel a bit relieved June 23 after councillors voted 11-3 to identify the 43-acre property — consisting of about 10 soccer fields and green space behind the high school located on Jerseyville Road — as a “cultural heritage landscape.”
Bader praised Ancaster Coun. Lloyd Ferguson for initially seeking a heritage designation on the high school lands. The decision was based on what the Town of Oakville did in 2017 to seek a heritage designation to protect the Glen Abbey golf course to prevent owner ClubLink’s plan to redevelop it for housing and other uses.
The board initially purchased 21 acres of property in 1957 for $39,000 led by Ferguson’s father, Walter, from an area farmer to build a school. The board, a decade later, bought another 21 acres from the same farmer to be used for the community.
The fields have been used by the Ancaster Soccer Club since 1985. Bader said the recent three-day Heritage Days Soccer Tournament in June saw hundreds of young people using the fields to their fullest.
“I just loved it,” he said. “The fields were swamped with children and their families.”
Council’s decision was a result of four years of hard work by Bader to rally local and community support to prevent the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board from asking for a severance application from the city’s committee of adjustment. The campaign acquired over 11,500 signatures, including from Ancaster soccer icon Melissa Tancredi, businessperson Ron Foxcroft and Hamilton Tiger-Cats owner Bob Young