For the past year, ThoroldToday readers have followed the saga of the bulldozed frog pond on the corner of Decew Rd and Richmond St.
There is one person in particular who was instrumental in bringing the story to the public: Carla Carlson.
She has spent the last two decades trying to protect the pond and through the tireless efforts of her eco-activist group ‘Friends of the Richmond Street Forest’ the frog pond was finally restored over the summer.
“We were delighted with all the people that came together in and outside of Thorold that helped get the resolution with the city,” says Carlson, in an interview with ThoroldToday.
When some Thorold residents found out about the destruction of the pond, they immediately sprung into action.
“I’m so thrilled that people like Rachael Haynes stepped up to be such an integral part of this,” Carlson says. “Without her help and technical abilities I wouldn’t have been able to proceed as efficiently as we did. She was able to make our Facebook page and our website so I feel like our group is indebted to her. It allowed us to spread the word.”
The ‘Friends’ group held their first annual general meeting back in November.
“It was extremely well attended,” says Carlson. “We had people come from Fort Erie and Oakville, a number of students from Niagara College’s horticulture department, people from The Garden Club in Thorold. It was such a positive meeting.”
Although the pond is now restored, there are still some questions Carlson would like to see answered.
“We are very anxious to see the report as to how the raising of the pond happened and continued to happen even after I alerted them on February 8 this year,” she says. “They promised us this report over and over but it still hasn’t appeared.”
Carlson points out that former Thorold Mayor Malcolm Woodhouse warned the city about the protected status of the pond before the city gave the permission to bulldoze it.
“Mal Woodhouse alerted the city with an email to the mayor and councillors and staff that that was a protected pond back in October 2021,” Carlson says. “Since he did that and he’s such a respected person in the community, how could that have been ignored?”
Carlson hopes to continue protecting the pond into 2023 and beyond.
“We’re very excited to see the installation of the first eco-passage in Niagara,” she says. “We look forward to monitoring the pond in the spring. We’re looking forward in the future to working with school groups and the community to monitor the frog pond and frog population.”
