The Lake Gibson Corridor Preservation Task Group is fed up and frustrated with the City of Thorold and their unwillingness to cooperate in conserving the natural area of the Lake Gibson corridor.
“This is ridiculous, I’m thinking about retiring at the end of next term and I want to see this happen,” says Councillor Fred Neale who is part of the task group.
“This conservation area is a legacy and there’s a lot of history. I think that maybe council and staff are not putting this as a priority. I’m a little disappointed.”
The Lake Gibson Corridor Preservation Task Group found its start in 2001 and set out to protect and preserve the rich fauna and flora found in the area surrounding Lake Gibson.
Thorold city council approved a motion at the beginning of June that instructed city hall to map the area but six months later nothing has been done.
“We would like to eventually get the NPCA (Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority) to take over managing the conservation aspects of the property to look at what kind of care would have to be given to the area but we can’t really do that until we have a defined area to present them with,” explains Tony Vandermaas, who is the chair of the task group.
Another difficulty in getting anything done around the Lake Gibson corridor has to do with the fact that there are so many different parties involved.
Says Councillor Neale, “There is the Seaway who owns part of the property, there’s Ontario Power Generation company, the region owns a fair amount of it, the city of Thorold owns some of it, and there’s St. Catharines. There’s a number of players that need to get together and say, ‘We don’t mind this being a conservation area.’”
Having so many different parties involved can make it difficult to discern who is responsible for what. Take for instance the amount of garbage which is currently floating in the water along the boardwalk at Mel Swart Lake Gibson Conservation Park.
Says Vandermaas, “It’s a city park, but if it’s in the water though that’s Hydro One’s (responsibility).”
At the end of the day, the planning department at the City of Thorold needs to map the corridor before real conservation efforts can be made.
Says Councillor Neale, “I get frustrated because I like things going quite efficiently and rapidly, and unfortunately the different levels of government are not as fast as I would like them to be.”
