A group of peaceful protestors gathered outside of Kincardine’s council chambers Monday evening to demonstrate their support for the protection of mature trees within the municipality.
Event organizer, Amanda Saxton, says this protest was an impactful way to show council how much residents of Kincardine care.
“I really thought it was important for the public to come out and show that we do need a private tree by-law so that we can stop things like clear-cutting on developments which are ultimately privately owned. So we need those by-laws in place so that we can have tree protection in our area.”
Protestors expressed their displeasure over losing trees for new housing developments that they say have made little progress since.
Saxton says those wanting to save every tree, and those wanting to cut trees down for new developments, have to compromise.
“Somebody once said to me ‘if everyone is upset, then you’ve done your job.’ So no one is going to get exactly what they want. We’re not going to be able to save every single tree, we’re not going to be able to cut down every tree either. We have to find somewhere in the middle.”
Councillor, Bill Stewart, says it’s difficult to find the balance between saving mature trees, and developing residential lands.
“Unfortunately, some of these housing developments took away some large amounts of forests. It is development versus trees, but it’s really not development versus trees. It’s development, and trying to get along with the community and also working with Mother Nature and everything else to come together.”
Stewart spoke to the group of protestors to hear what they had to say. He says it’s important to hear input from the public before the by-law gets finalized this fall.
“We really need the public to stand up and give their opinion. The only way we’re going to have a great policy is if the public gets involved immediately and asks questions, and maybe make a lot of recommendations to us.”
So far, the only public input received on this proposed by-law has been a public survey, which garnered over 800 responses. Stewart says he would like to see several public meetings regarding this policy held during this summer.
