Residents along tree-lined Victoria Ave in Chatham, Ont. celebrate win
Proposed changes to Victoria Avenue in Chatham have been paused for the foreseeable future after a multi-year fight to save the trees along the historic street grew across the community.
Chatham-Kent councillor and Victoria Avenue resident Michael Bondy said municipal staff informed him last week that sewer replacement and road reconstruction work was removed from the five year municipal priority list, after work was initially scheduled to begin in 2022.
“If there are other priorities in the municipality, then I'm happy to see that they're taken care of first,” Bondy said.
“I asked about the schedule for this and I received a letter saying that the sewers have been cleaned, inspected and they're okay and this project is no longer on the five year priority plan. So it's, I'd say, like indefinitely kind of on hold.”
Bondy explained, “It'll have to happen eventually because all sewers have to be replaced eventually. But the big concern about the trees and effectively the reconstruction of Victoria Ave. seems to be on hold which makes a lot of people very happy.”
Municipal staff said the sewer under the street from McNaughton Avenue to Thames Street will be monitored in the coming years, but that recent flow investigations determined reconstruction was not required at this time.
Victoria Avenue at McNaughton in Chatham, Ont. on Monday, May 29, 2023. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)
“I don't hear about any sewage problems on the street on Victoria Avenue, and I'm sure I'd probably be the first guy to hear about it,” Bondy said. “Being a long-time councillor on Victoria, I'm sure they would come to me with that and I've never received any complaints about sewage problems.”
In 2020, residents along the historic street, and across Chatham-Kent, tied orange ribbons on their trees to express their displeasure with the proposed reconstruction plan, which at one time included a roundabout and multi-purpose trails.
Bondy told CTV News people come from out of town to take walks along Victoria Avenue.
“A lot of the community was involved in this like I saw signs in Erieau, in Dresden, so it was more of a community concern that it was simply just Victoria Avenue residents,” he said.
“I'd say that we're all pretty happy about it and it gives us some breathing time.”
Bondy said mature trees that pose significant safety concerns still need to be dealt with properly, but that this decision should be viewed as a win for all those concerned.
“Nine mature trees have been removed in the last three years,” Bondy said. “And it's been promised that they will be replaced by “not saplings” but Carolinian larger trees. That hasn't happened yet. But I have faith.”
There were initial concerns that more than two dozen would be removed.
“Because of what's happened, a lot of people have started to plant new trees, fearing that we would lose all of these trees so it's kind of worked in our favour. It's probably going to be a more treed street in the end.
“People really stepped up to say, we don't agree with this. We don't necessarily want to see a modernization of Victoria Avenue. And you know, it took a number of years and some change in management, but I think people were listened to because the sewers aren't any different than they were. They've just been cleaned and given a clean bill of health for the next five years.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.