Save Our Trees
Victoria Street Port Hope, ON, Canada

PLEASE SHARE We need to flood council's emails before the Council Meeting on Tuesday evening! Councillor Mink has put forward an important motion (seconded by Councillor Carr) calling on Council to reject Mason Homes' original submission before formally recognizing further proposals from the developer. This procedural action is an important step in protecting Penryn Woodland and drawing a line in the sand to defend our town's ecosystems and tree canopy! Please consider email...ing council members (emails below) with the following (or your own wording): ___________________ I urge you to vote in favour of the motion regarding Second Submission of a draft plan) submitted by Councillor Mink, seconded by Councillor Carr. 1. To protect our designated significant woodlands and heritage properties; 2. To prevent developments running afoul of our official plan by inventing new criteria e.g. Provincially Significant Woodlands; 3. To re-establish Council control of the land use process in defense of the public interest; 4. To make the point that the voice of the people is being ignored as public promises of negotiations with the developer are getting nowhere in terms of the expressed public interest. __________________ Emails: Bob Sanderson - Mayor ([email protected]) Les Andrews - Deputy Mayor ([email protected]) John Bickle ([email protected]) Laurie Carr ([email protected]) Jeff Lees ([email protected]) Wendy Meadows ([email protected]) Vicki Mink ([email protected]) Huge thanks to Claire Holloway Wadhwani for this initiative!

PLEASE SHARE We need to flood councils emails before the Council Meeting on Tuesday evening! Councillor Mink has put forward an important motion (seconded by Councillor Carr) calling on Council to reject Mason Homes original submission before formally recognizing further proposals from the developer. This procedural action is an important step in protecting Penryn Woodland and drawing a line in the sand to defend our towns ecosystems and tree canopy! Please consider email...ing council members (emails below) with the following (or your own wording): ___________________ I urge you to vote in favour of the motion regarding Second Submission of a draft plan) submitted by Councillor Mink, seconded by Councillor Carr. 1. To protect our designated significant woodlands and heritage properties; 2. To prevent developments running afoul of our official plan by inventing new criteria e.g. Provincially Significant Woodlands; 3. To re-establish Council control of the land use process in defense of the public interest; 4. To make the point that the voice of the people is being ignored as public promises of negotiations with the developer are getting nowhere in terms of the expressed public interest. __________________ Emails: Bob Sanderson - Mayor ([email protected]) Les Andrews - Deputy Mayor ([email protected]) John Bickle ([email protected]) Laurie Carr ([email protected]) Jeff Lees ([email protected]) Wendy Meadows ([email protected]) Vicki Mink ([email protected]) Huge thanks to Claire Holloway Wadhwani for this initiative!

The Save Our trees group would like to share with you the following letter... This letter represents advice from outside legal counsel retained by us to fight for the lives of the trees of the Penryn Forest. David Donnelly is one of the leading environmental and land use lawyers in Canada. His services were retained by the group in support of the legal entity we are forming through which to drive this campaign. This opinion was sought and rendered on an urgent basis given a ...Continue reading

Thanks to a Port Hope resident for these new photos of the Penryn woodlot. Magestic is the word she used to describe the trees!

The Save Our trees group would like to share with you the following, just received from Louise Nettleton. Please read on... After several conversations with Diana Beresford-Kroeger regarding Penryn Woodlands, I am in possession of her handwritten letter which arrived today in the mail via expedited mail. Diana is a world-recognized author, medical biochemist, and botanist. She has a unique combination of both western scientific knowledge and the traditional concepts of the ...ancient world. Her most recent book, Call of the Forest - The Forgotten Wisdom of Trees details her unique childhood growing up in Ireland and the ancient wisdom that has been passed onto her. It also touches on her Bio plan which in a nutshell is how "rebuilding the global forest is the cheapest and best defense against climate change." She has received numerous awards and titles, such as a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 2011. The handwritten letter is addressed to Mayor Sanderson and members of council and I have transcribed it below for all to read and attached the original: Dear Mayor Sanderson and Members of Council, A small item, called Penryn Woodland is on your casualty list for 2020. As mayor of Port Hope you and your council members have a paid civic responsibility to 16,500 inhabitants locally and then on into the wider community of the Great Lakes Region. Here is my pro-bono advice: 1. Biodiversity in nature is important. A lack of it has led to Sars virus, spontaneous meningococcal worldwide, Ebola, and now the Coronavirus pandemic. 2. Ancient woodland mixtures reduces the numbers of ticks locally. Lyme disease is a killer. 3. Healthy forests feed iron into the lakes waters, which is the feeding foundation for fish and mammals. 4. Evergreen trees supply medicinal aerosols, some of which in the pineal group help to prevent all cancers by boosting the T-cell ratio fo the immune system. 5. Penryn Woodland is a migratory stop for spring and summer birds, butterflies, and insects. Those who protect the Monarch butterfly patch of volcanic soil in Mexico have recently been killed to clear the way for greed. 6. In the case of Port Hope, the trees along with their air cleaning duty of filtering off 2.5-micron industrial pollution, act as a nuclear sink. The radioactive isotopes released into the atmosphere and groundwater will now be resident in these trees in a harmless way. Their half-lives (t12) matched to the trees growth, will recede with time into a non-reactive state of reduced alpha, beta, and gamma radiation for a little above background. It is my opinion that the tax-paying inhabitants of Port Hope require value for their money. Please give it to them in a form of a standing and healthy woodland. Sincerly, Diana Beresford Kroeger

In order to ensure that everyone is up-to-date on the progress related to our movement Greg Burns has offered the following: Engagement of Legal Counsel David Donnelly of Donnelly Law has been retained as our legal counsel as we go forward in our battle to save the Penryn Woodland. Davids specialty is environmental law, and he has a significant background (both from an academic and experiential perspective) in successfully taking to court groups who have negatively impacted ...Continue reading

Community Update Save Our Trees Port Hope March 22, 2020 A group of committed Port Hope citizens (Save Our Trees Port Hope) has been working on behalf of the community to ensure the protection and preservation of the Penryn Woodland, at the south end of Victoria Street. This update will provide residents with a summary of the tasks completed to date, and actions still to be taken....Continue reading

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Message to the Residents of Port Hope from Bill Wilkerson (photo courtesy of Jean Huffman): You may have already seen the statement earlier today on the outcome of a meeting concerning the Penryn Forest held yesterday with Mayor Bob Sanderson and Greg Burns and myself. (If you havent seen it, please visit our page to see the post.) Further to that, it seems to us that we have reached a point where our message has resonated where it needed to, among members of the community a...nd members of the municipal council - and given the powerful and substantive case members of our group have made concerning the incomplete and inaccurate nature of the Mason Homes application threatening the Forest, it is time now to give a Mayor who is committed to saving the trees, to a Council consisting of members who also want to keep Port Hope, Port Hope the breathing room needed to lead us to an outcome of this matter that we will all welcome. At the same time, we will monitor closely, stay in close touch with the Mayor and keep the pressure on by way of social media and other forms of public outreach to ensure that even in the face of social-distancing required by the coronavirus crisis, we will not let our guard down one little bit. Our thanks to everyone, Bill Wilkerson

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Public Statement for General Release March 17, 2020 To: Residents of Port Hope... Re: Save Our Trees Update: Meeting with Mayor Sanderson The undersigned had a thorough and productive discussion Monday with Mayor Bob Sanderson and he assured us that there will be no decisions taken by Council at its regular and Committee of the Whole meetings this evening.(Tuesday). In that the public is discouraged from attending the Council chambers due to the coronavirus crisis, this reassurance is most welcome. As for the Mason Homes proposed development, the Mayor also affirmed his intention to find a road to preservation of the Penryn woodlands and he proposed the following: A technical meeting among representatives of Save Our Trees, and members of Council and staff to discuss the analytical research and commentaries that members of our group have submitted to the municipality over the past weeks. This discussion will permit us to present information and data that may be available to council members and staff only because of the in-depth, diligent analysis our team and others have contributed to date in opposing this development in its current form. More broadly, the Mayor spoke of a vision for Port Hope wherein our natural environment is a defining feature of how our community develops and greets the future. A most encouraging signal. Based on our time with Mayor Sanderson, we believe the community will hear from Council in a comprehensive manner in the next couple of weeks on the Mason Homes application for OP/Zoning Bylaw amendments. One thing is for sure, the communitys message of deep concern for the proposed development has been heard, in the Mayors own words, loud and clear. Greg Burns Bill Wilkerson

Please send your comments to council through the official public consultation process. This is what will help council help us! Remember...Mason Homes might not accept the petitions, but the online consultation is part of the official process. http://www.porthope.ca/community/penryn-mason-homes-phase-5

An article on our battle to save the trees!

Council needs to hear from all concerned citizens through their official comment form at http://www.porthope.ca/community/penryn-mason-homes-phase-5 Not sure what to say? Feel free to copy and paste the text below...... To the Mayor, Council and Staff, Municipality of Port Hope I oppose the proposed development by Penryn Mason Homes to destroy an old growth forest to build prestigious housing designed to attract retirees from larger urban areas not the young families Port Hope needs to survive. In 2020 our community is already facing a huge loss of our mature woodland through the PHAI radioactive waste cleanup. Destruction of the old growth forest at Penryn Park cannot be permitted. Our children and grandchildren already need this natural urban island of green space. Port Hope should reject the current development application and renegotiate a plan that provides affordable housing with access to nature. The future of Port Hope depends on your actions today. Respectfully, Your Name

Save our Trees Your comments on this destructive development plan are encouraged here. But it is important that everyone sends a submission to Port Hope Councils special e-mail address at [email protected]. Comment forms and detailed information on this plan are posted at http://www.porthope.ca/community/penryn-mason-homes-phase-5 We are citizens for Port Hope who have gathered to prevent the destruction of a small but irreplaceable old growth forest on Victoria... Street South in urban Port Hope. Port Hope Council now faces applications from a developer to build housing on this 3.15 hectare forest landscape which is an important natural and cultural heritage resource. Removal of over 900 trees and the woodlots wildlife environment cannot be allowed. The Save Our Trees group hopes that a successful campaign to protect Penryn Woods will be just a first step in community involvement in a plan for an environmentally sustainable future. Your engagement will help maintain our unique, welcoming forested heritage community - not just another faceless suburb. Our citizens coalition includes many individuals who already work to protect our natural and cultural heritage by participating in existing community groups, such as Port Hope for Future. Your comments on this destructive development plan are encouraged here. But it is important that everyone sends a submission to Port Hope Councils special e-mail address at [email protected]. Comment forms and detailed information on this plan are posted at http://www.porthope.ca/community/penryn-mason-homes-phase-5

This is what we stand to lose! Save our Trees! We are citizens for Port Hope who have gathered to prevent the destruction of a small but irreplaceable old growth forest on Victoria Street South in urban Port Hope. ... Port Hope Council now faces applications from a developer to build housing on this 3.15 hectare forest landscape which is an important natural and cultural heritage resource. Removal of over 900 trees and the woodlots wildlife environment cannot be allowed. The Save Our Trees group hopes that a successful campaign to protect Penryn Woods will be just a first step in community involvement in a plan for an environmentally sustainable future. Your engagement will help maintain our unique, welcoming forested heritage community - not just another faceless suburb. Our citizens coalition includes individuals who participate in various community groups advocating for the future as well as the heritage of Port Hope. Examples Port Hope for Future, Architectural Conservancy Ontario (ACO) Port Hope, and the Municipalitys Centre for Excellence for Environmental Sustainability Working Group and Tree Advisory Committee. Your comments on this destructive development plan are encouraged here. But it is important that everyone sends a submission to Port Hope Councils special e-mail address at [email protected]. Comment forms and detailed information on this plan are posted at http://www.porthope.ca/community/penryn-mason-homes-phase-5

Save our Trees We are citizens for Port Hope who have gathered to prevent the destruction of a small but irreplaceable old growth forest on Victoria Street South in urban Port Hope. Port Hope Council now faces applications from a developer to build housing on this 3.15 hectare forest landscape which is an important natural and cultural heritage resource. Removal of over 900 trees and the woodlots wildlife environment cannot be allowed. ... The Save Our Trees group hopes that a successful campaign to protect Penryn Woods will be just a first step in community involvement in a plan for an environmentally sustainable future. Your engagement will help maintain our unique, welcoming forested heritage community - not just another faceless suburb. Our citizens coalition includes many individuals who already work to protect our natural and cultural heritage by participating in existing community groups, such as Port Hope for Future. Your comments on this destructive development plan are encouraged here. But it is important that everyone sends a submission to Port Hope Councils special e-mail address at [email protected]. Comment forms and detailed information on this plan are posted at http://www.porthope.ca/community/penryn-mason-homes-phase-5