Tag Archives: Collingwood

It’s been a successful year, and we couldn’t have done it without you!

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As we look back on 2022, we’re encouraged by all that we’ve accomplished together since our launch in March – and we’re grateful for your support.

Over the past year, we’ve raised awareness about the threats facing our natural lands and connected with residents, businesses and organizations in support of our home! Through elections, outreach, and events, we’ve grown together and are ready for another successful year ahead.

Amongst many other achievements, we’ve:

  • Gained over 20,000 signatures on our petition, highlighting the importance of the Escarpment and the support across Ontario for a responsible approach to development;
  • Led significant legal, public relations, and advocacy campaigns to protect our community;
  • Advocated for land conservation and sustainability to leaders, local representatives, and municipal councils;
  • Built strong relationships with likeminded residents, businesses, and organizations; and
  • Voiced our strong opposition to Bill 23 and other policies and legislation harmful to the environment alongside community members and organizations across the province.

In the year to come, we plan to continue connecting with friends and neighbours while building new relationships in the community. Additionally, and after thorough preparation with our team, we are expanding our outreach with government officials to increase our advocacy for the protection of our region.

We look forward to working with you in the coming year and continuing to protect our community together. Your support, from volunteering to donations and petition participation has been central to our success throughout 2022. In the words of John F. Kennedy, “One person can make a difference, and everyone should try.”

Looking ahead to the new year, we imagine how much more we can accomplish – together. We cannot wait to continue our work to protect the Niagara Escarpment.

Wishing you a happy holiday season and our best wishes for the new year.

Losing a Champion for the Environment  – Greta McGillivray

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Losing a Champion for the Environment  

On September 25th, our community experienced a significant loss with the passing of Greta McGillivray – one of the original defenders of the unique escarpment environment up in the Collingwood area. I had the pleasure to serve on the Blue Mountain Watershed Trust Board alongside Greta and Terk Bailey, Malcolm Kirk, Norm Wingrove, Sonny Foley and others back in the 90’s. Each meeting was held in Greta’s beautiful home, known for its beautiful, naturalized front yard on Minnesota Street.

We all owe a lot to Greta for her early efforts to protect and conserve. She was tireless. She taught us all that everything is connected!

Her efforts to save the remaining critical natural features and assets here in the Collingwood area were relentless. She was committed to protecting the incredible natural assets that drew us all here in the first place and helped to establish this area as a major tourism and recreation destination.

Through her work in the community, Greta helped to found both the Nature League, and the Blue Mountain Watershed Trust – two of the region’s leading conservation groups. Today, more than 30 years later, we continue to struggle to protect and conserve these very same Escarpment and creek systems and corridors. As a result of her leadership, so many more of us now continue her work as we continue the fight to protect our natural spaces.

As Greta’s daughter Jane reminded me, one of Greta’s often quoted sayings was “There is something fundamentally wrong with a civilization that insists upon treating the earth like a business in liquidation”.

I personally learned a lot from Greta, lessons that steered my career towards more responsible forms of tourism, and my personal commitment to continue doing my part in saving the remaining special places on Mother Earth.

Let’s all pick up the torch and work together to:

  • Stop irresponsible development on the Escarpment brow and slopes;
  • Protect and Conserve a green corridor from Creemore to Kimbercote; and
  • Stimulate creation of a strong, vibrant conservation economy that benefits and is driven by our local communities.

Written by Mike Robbins
Board Member of the Escarpment Corridor Alliance
Working Group Member for the Aspiring Georgian Bay Geopark
Member of the Trebek Council
Part of the TAPAS Group Network (IUCN T
Tourism and Protected Areas Specialist Group)Founding Partner with the Tourism Company

Now Offering Charitable Tax Receipts!

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The Escarpment Corridor Alliance has come a remarkable distance since our formal launch on March 1st – public recognition, political awareness, and so much more. With critical municipal elections coming on October 24th we need your support more than ever.

And, BIG NEWS, we are now able to offer charitable tax receipts to any donors as of Tuesday September 13th! The ECA has just formalized a wonderful partnership with Small Change Fund to allow our donors, small and large, to stretch the value of their contributions.

Small Change Fund has helped 100’s of not-for-profits like the ECA, expand their reach to a broader donor base and into family foundations and other funding sources. This will mean an end to our GoFundMe page so, on behalf of all our great board members, I would like to offer a huge thank you for our GFM donors to date who have believed in our mission of a green escarpment forever. We hope that many of you will continue your financial support of the ECA as we move into the second phase of our work which will require major investments in professionals for scientific, planning, legal and educational work as well as in growing our supporter base through an expanding number of channels and strategies. We’ve had a great start … now it’s time to move into high gear!

Again, as of Tuesday September 13th all ECA donations will be eligible for charitable  tax receipts with all proceeds going directly to our work which is 100% volunteer driven. For our project, Small Change Fund is happy to accept on-line contributions, cheques and gifts of securities. Please reach out if you have any questions or want to discuss larger donations.

Every donation is appreciated and will be used to keep our escarpment green!

The Escarpment Summit: Like-Minded Groups Meet to Discuss Strategy

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At the end of June, the G7 summit met in Germany. Just prior, on June 23, there was a rather different meeting of the minds at an “Escarpment Summit.”

The Escarpment Corridor Alliance (ECA) gathered close to a dozen local organizations for a workshopping session to share ideas and support each other in the common goal of keeping the Escarpment green for future generations.

“The key message was the urgency expressed and how little time we may have to act,” said David Scoon, an ECA board member. “If we don’t act quickly and forcefully, forests could be cut down practically overnight.”

Attendees included the Friends of Silver Creek, Save Georgian Bay, Collingwood Climate Action Team, the Nature League of Collingwood, Collingwood Cycling Club, Collingwood Off Road Cycling, Kolapore Wilderness Trails, Protecting Talisman Lands Association, Blue Mountain Watershed Trust, and the Niagara Escarpment Foundation.

The gathering highlighted the power of these groups to bring together a very large number of concerned citizens with a common interest of protecting the Niagara Escarpment from irresponsible development.

Going forward, the groups plan to share information and join forces to send a joint letter to politicians.

Further actions to watch for and support include a large community event before the municipal elections this fall and letter writing campaigns.

“The gathering certainly emphasized the fact that we are all in this together, and by joining forces, we are much stronger and in a better position to achieve our common goals,” said Scoon.

See below for the full list of attendees, and please follow and share their social media.

Escarpment Corridor Alliance

Friends of Silver Creek

Protecting Talisman Lands Association

Niagara Escarpment Foundation

Save Georgian Bay

Collingwood Climate Action Team

Nature League of Collingwood

Collingwood Cycling Club

Blue Mountain Watershed Trust

Collingwood Off Road Cycling

Kolapore Wilderness Trails

My Grandfather Built Lake of the Clouds

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My grandfather, Bing Young, built Lake of the Clouds in 1965. He worked in construction all his life. Castle Glen hired him as the caretaker. He plowed all the roads, took care of all the buildings, and he also built the lake. He did that until he retired around the year 2000. He lived across Grey Road 19. There’s an old farmhouse on the hill. When he retired Castle Glen gave him two acres of land and he built his house there.

I spent every weekend as a child up there, always hiking. The lake was stocked with speckled trout. That’s where I would spend all my Christmases. I proposed to my wife there, too, right at the arch of the castle.

My grandfather had to enforce the No Trespassing signs at certain times because big four-wheelers would come in off the Sixth Street extension, drive into the castle and rip up the trails. But other than that, everyone you talk to up there is very open about sharing the land. I’ve been going up there my whole life as a local. It’s always just something you do on weekends. The walk through the hardwood forest from the castle to Sixth Street is absolutely beautiful. It’s an ecosystem for a lot of wildlife. It’s a nice place to enjoy. When you come out of that forest the view over the whole area is incredible.

There’s a real lack of awareness about what could happen to the Castle Glen property. Until I heard about it from the Escarpment Corridor Alliance I had no idea that the land was sold to a big developer. The original Castle Glen owners had the dream of doing all this but they never had the funds to make it happen. I have the original pamphlet from Castle Glen when they were selling lots for $3,900 in the late ‘60s or early ’70s. The development was the kind of thing that was out of sight, out of mind. It was something from 15 or 20 years ago that stalled and everyone forgot about.

I’ve always been a mountain biker. One of my biggest concerns is that the nearby mountain bike trails at Three Stage will get destroyed. The soil is clay-based. When it’s wet and people ride there, the trails get damaged fast. A 1,600-home development, potentially a hotel, is just that much more traffic volume.

And for the road biking community, Grey Road 19 is a haven for cyclists. The increased traffic would be monumental. I can’t imagine all the dump trucks going up and down there.

I also worry about the Pretty River Provincial Park and the amount of people that the development will bring. And I don’t like the idea of a housing development right on the Bruce Trail corridor.

I’m not against development, but this is massive. I’m surprised that the environmental side isn’t being looked at more.

My grandfather passed away in 2002, but all those trails and forests are the same as I remember them. If that development is pushed through, it would change the whole landscape of the area.

My hope is that Castle Glen stays as it is for future generations to enjoy.

This article is edited and condensed from an interview with Jason Smith, an avid mountain biker and ECA volunteer who grew up in Collingwood and now lives in Wasaga Beach. 

Traffic Math—How development threatens the Escarpment’s best cycling and hiking routes

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VROOM. This is…VROOM…what biking…VROOM…on Grey Road 19…VROOM…might sound like…VROOM…if the proposed Castle Glen Resort Community gets built.

Grey Road 19 is one gem of a cycling route. Grey County proudly promotes this road, the former site of the Sea Otter Canada and Blue Mountains Gran Fondo rides, on its Cycling Routes roadmap. Grey Road 19 is a local favourite training ride for its long gradient, wide shoulders, expansive views and light traffic.

But what is being done to protect this regional attraction?

One thousand, six hundred new homes. Three hundred additional hotel rooms. Three added golf courses. An approved 5,000 square meters of new commercial space.  Another gas station. We have to wonder, how much extra traffic would the planned Castle Glen development create on Grey Road 19?

The studies haven’t been done. But we can hazard a guess.

Imagine each of those planned houses has just one car—a conservative estimate to be sure. If one car leaves every home in the future Castle Glen Resort Community each morning, between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. That’s 1,600 cars over two hours. That works out to 13 cars going by every minute, or one car every 4.5 seconds, for two straight hours. Then the same pattern repeated in every afternoon.

Or, say one car journey per household per day, spread evenly over 10 hours from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. That adds up to 3,200 cars on Grey Road 19 (one trip out and back for 1,600 cars). That’s 5.3 cars per minute. Just plain math.

One car every 12 seconds. All day long.

That’s the added traffic, on top of what exists today. And we haven’t even considered the guests at the 300-room hotel or people heading to golf.

Would you want to bike on such a road? Would you hike beside it, or in a nearby forest now filled with highway sounds? A popular section of the Bruce Trail follows the shoulder of the Grey Road 19, and this added traffic creates a dangerous mix of pedestrians and many, many cars.

And what about traffic on Sideroad 12, the extension to Sixth Street that borders the other side of the Castle Glen development, a secluded gravel backroad that’s so popular with local walkers that it’s Collingwood’s de facto outdoor stair master?

Nor do those numbers don’t take into account the potential years of heavy truck traffic from constructing 1,600 homes, or the roads and amenities to service them. And of course the proposed hotel rooms, golf courses and shops. Building an entire town on the brow of the Niagara Escarpment, the heart of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, is an outdated development concept that would surely be rejected if it were put forward today.

Don’t take for granted that our quiet Escarpment roads will always be welcoming to walk and ride. As the song goes, you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. Isn’t it time we established protection for the recreational amenities most cherished by locals and visitors alike, the very foundation of the region’s recreation economy, before it’s too late?

Read more about the proposed Castle Glen development HERE. Sign the petition HERE.

Protect the Source of Silver Creek: Our Biodiversity and Natural Environment are Under Threat from Impending Development

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The last significant coastal wetland in our region is under threat – and we need your help to stop it.

Lake of the Clouds in Castle Glen is the source of Silver Creek which flows down the Escarpment, through forest and field before coming to rest in the Silver Creek Wetland and then entering Georgian Bay. Despite being designated by the province as “Provincially Significant,” this wetland, along with Silver Creek and its floodplain, may be lost forever.

If, at the top of the Escarpment, the Castle Glen development proceeds, there will be irreversible damage to the Silver Creek Wetland. Compounding this problem are the Huntingwood Trails and Bridgewater developments at the bottom of the Escarpment destroying forever this Provincially Significant Wetland.

Why is Silver Creek under a particular threat?

As South Georgian Bay’s last remaining intact coastal wetland, any development in its proximity will prove destructive to its very fragile ecosystem and already endangered wildlife. Eventually this will have a negative impact on the water quality of Georgian Bay. Without the wetland to provide a carbon sink to cleanse the water and runoff, the Bay will accept unknown amounts of toxins that will have long lasting and devastating effects on the health of the water and the wildlife that populates it.

In cooperation with the Escarpment Corridor Alliance, Friends of Silver Creek are fighting to protect the creek from top to bottom by working together to force the Ontario government to recognize, respect and enforce environmental protections – and preserve the wetlands they themselves have designated as “significant.” We must curtail development to ensure the lasting beauty and natural heritage that attracts millions of visitors each year to our beloved Escarpment.

Time is of the essence and the impacts are very real.

These developments threaten to destroy endangered wildlife habitat and migration corridors, heighten risks from severe flooding, and will mean the permanent loss of our natural heritage from the Lake of the Clouds, down the Silver Creek to the wetland, and ultimately into Georgian Bay. This area needs immediate protection – it simply cannot wait.

Imagine in the near future if signs along the shores of South Georgian Bay are posted saying “Unsafe Beach” or “No Swimming due to Unsafe Pollution Levels.” Imagine dead trout full of micro-plastics along Silver Creek and no salmon returning to spawn as creek beds have been disturbed. Imagine losing our wild spaces along the Escarpment, replaced by homes with a “view for the monied few.”

We’re determined in our fight to make change happen and preserve this area.

This is your chance to think globally and act locally on climate change. Sign and share both the ECA petition and the Silver Creek petition to help build public awareness of these issues.

We need your help – and so does the environment we all rely on and the nature we all love to enjoy.

By Sunny Wiles, Friends of Silver Creek. The Friends of Silver Creek is an aligned organization with the ECA whose mission is to preserve the Silver Creek Wetlands, the last significant coastal wetlands in the Collingwood/The Blue Mountains region and to stop development, within reasonable proximity, to ensure its environmental protection and natural beauty.