A chance to talk all things airport
The Airport Community Liaison Committee is hosting a town hall meeting on Dec. 5 to provide information and gather feedback on a number of topics surrounding the airport.
By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express
In less than a week, Oshawa citizens will have the chance to learn and share their thoughts on a variety of different topics circling around the Oshawa Executive Airport.
A town hall meeting, hosted by the Airport Communtiy Liaison Committee, is slated for Dec. 5 at the Canadian Flight Academy (1250 Airport Boulevard) and will include presentations from city staff and the airport manager Stephen Wilcox on the future of the Oshawa Airport.
“(The committee) is hosting this town hall really to update all of the airport community on a number of issues and to get input from the community,” Wilcox says.
Among those topics are a look at managing the city’s urban tree canopy, especially following the major impacts of the emerald ash borer infestation, the accessible trails project at the airport, and an update on the city’s South Field Master Plan Process.
The south field of the Oshawa Executive Airport has been a question mark in the city’s planning department for some time. In 1987, it was first noted that it could be used for recreational purposes and sports fields.
Today, the Ontario Regimental Museum and a soccer field call the space home, along with the 420 Wing Club, Gemini Gymnastics and a community garden.
However, a concrete plan for the valuable 22.3-hectare site has never been finalized, and currently, city staff are in the midst of developing such a document.
Wilcox says the update at the town hall meeting will really only focus on the timing of the plan and is not intended as the public consultation process.
With that said, Wilcox notes that it is essential for the airport to have open dialogue with the residents of Oshawa.
“Outreach and engagement with the community, especially with our neighbours immediately adjacent to the airport and in the higher traffic areas, we want to talk to them, for sure, we want to include them in the planning process as well as hear feedback from them,” he says.
The meeting will open its doors at 7:15 p.m. with presentations getting underway at 7:30 p.m.