Happy Hallowe'en!
Published this week on our Facebook page is a map of spooky houses in Wellington Village! Have a look for some of the top spots to check out today or in the next day or two before the decorations come down!
Thanks for the suggestions ! If there are more to recommend let your neighbours know in the comments on our Facebook page! https://www.facebook.com/WVCAOTTAWA
** Note: Meeting start time moved up to 6:30 p.m. instead of 7:00! **
The WVCA board meets this coming Monday evening, October 18th, at 6:30 p.m. for our monthly board meeting. We had an informal meeting over the summer and missed our September meeting, so this will be our first sitting of the board in a few months.
Members of the community are always welcome to attend. At present we continue to meet virtually. The link to Monday's meeting is: https://meet.google.com/irp-drgx-apz
Previous meeting minutes can be found in the "Meetings" tab of our website.
Here are some details from the organizing CA, Hampton-Iona:
Your local community associations will be hosting an All Candidates Debate on September 13th from 7 to 9 pm on Zoom Webinar. As well, we are looking at recording the debate and posting it on YouTube afterwards. We are pleased to say that we are expecting all 8 candidates running for MP in Ottawa Centre to participate in our debate.
How to Attend the Debate: We are not taking registrations in advance as there will be no need to register to attend. We have taken out a special platform for this debate that can support up to 1000 attendees. This platform will also allow us to provide closed captioning. While the webinar will begin at 7:00 pm, you may sign in earlier. Attendees will not, however, be let into the debate until just prior to 7:00 pm. To attend the debate, please link to Zoom Webinar at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84305249267?pwd=a3BrWFVrWldCdXRZQVpja2g5Ry8xQT09 Passcode: 958826 You may wish to cut and paste this link and passcode into your online Calendar. How to submit a question to the Debate Given the format of the debate, we are requesting that you submit your questions in advance. Your questions will be provided to the moderator. For security reasons attendees will not be able to directly ask their questions live as would usually happen at an in-person debate. Please submit your questions to ottawacentreelectiondebate@hamptoniona.ca Given the number of candidates expected to participate and in order to maximize the number of questions that the public can ask, questions can only be directed to two candidates. This is similar to our previous live debate formats. Please specify to which candidate or candidates (choice of 2 candidates) your question is directed. Please keep questions concise and focused on Federal issues. Do not include a preamble. Please submit your questions by Friday, September 10th. For technical reasons, questions submitted after that time are unlikely to be included. Further Information If you have questions about the debate, please send them to ottawacentreelectiondebate@hamptoniona.ca. We also recommend that you check the Hampton Iona website http://hamptoniona.ca periodically in case there are further updates.We have a new tab on the WVCA website!
Click on: this link to be taken to our new landing page for "Neighbours for Tunney's", where we will be sharing all of our updates in obtaining information on the forthcoming Tunney's Pasture redevelopment plans, having input into said plans, and working with the city on ensuring the priorities of residents of adjoining neighbourhoods are taken seriously.
The results from our April survey are posted to this page, as well as a backgrounder document we have developed in collaboration with the Champlain Park, Hintonburg and Mechanicsville Community Associations. We have formed Neighbours for Tunney's to discuss the above-mentioned concerns, and are putting pressure where we can to have information shared.
On the page you can also find information on how you can sign up for additional updates on the project, and how you can have more input in to the work we are doing.
Your local community associations have been putting in a lot of extra effort to bring this issue forward, and you will be hearing a LOT more on Tunney's Pasture in the days and weeks to come. This is a massive project that has been developed under a cone of silence. Plans are at an advanced stage, and have been done with no community consultation or input, nor the input or knowledge of city staff and elected officials. We have been told that updated redevelopment plans would be released soon, but to date have received no new information. We continue to press for the release of information, and for the federal government to meet with neighbours to provide critical input.
A lot more to come!
The WVCA board meets tonight on Monday evening, June 14th, at 7:30 p.m. for our monthly board meeting. Our focus topic continues to be Tunney's Pasture development plans, and our newly formed group, Neighbours for Tunney's. (Check out our new tab on the website by clicking here).
Members of the community are always welcome to attend. At present we continue to meet virtually. The link to Monday's meeting is: https://meet.google.com/izd-kzdq-ian
Previous meeting minutes can be found in the "Meetings" tab of our website.
This weekend, please join in our spring event, the Plant Swap Weekend.
To participate is easy! If you’re thinning out your plants this weekend, simply place near the sidewalk indicating they are free to a good home (feel free to share on WVCA Facebook page with the hashtag #wvplants and share in the comments of our Plant Swap Weekend posts). If you can label and indicate sun/shade tolerant even better! The photo attached is an example.
Our Facebook page event post: https://www.facebook.com/WVCAOTTAWA/photos/a.132441135364750/207646971177499
If you are looking for something in particular - comment on the link above! Maybe a neighbour has some extra to spare.
Please help us spread this like an aggressive weed - share this post with a neighbour so we can all add a bit of community cheer to our gardens.
(**and since the stay at home order remains in place, please be covid-wise, and perhaps incorporate picking them up with your daily outdoor exercise outing)
Happy long weekend!!
The WVCA board meets on Monday evening, May 10th, at 7:30 p.m. for our monthly board meeting. Our focus topic continues to be Tunney's Pasture development plans, and next steps following the close of our survey.
Members of the community are always welcome to attend. At present we continue to meet virtually. The link to Monday's meeting is: https://meet.google.com/izd-kzdq-ian
Previous meeting minutes can be found in the "Meetings" tab of our website.
The WVCA board meets on Monday evening at 7:30 p.m. for our monthly board meeting. Our focus topic continues to be Tunney's Pasture development plans and the survey that we have been running (which closes on Tuesday!).
Members of the community are always welcome to attend. At present we continue to meet virtually. The link to Monday's meeting is: https://meet.google.com/izd-kzdq-ian
Previous meeting minutes can be found in the "Meetings" tab of our website.
Good day everyone,
The Goldenrod Community Garden at the north end of the Tunney's Pasture property is finally a success story, made possible by years and years of hard work by a small group of dedicated gardeners! The Community Garden is about to break ground this spring, a new and important community space that will bring together neighbours from across our local community. Tara and I from the WVCA had a chance to view the site this evening led by Allegra Newman, who has clearly been putting her all into this project for many years. In just a matter of days, activity will begin on the site just north of Goldenrod, and south of the Parkway, about 200 feet west of Parkdale.
You can read more about the Garden below, but right now, the Garden needs your help! Natures's Path is running a "Garden for Good" grant competition. In order to qualify for a $5,000 grant, the Goldenrod Community Garden needs to finish in the top 21 spots. Right now they are placed around 16th place North America-wide, with the content ending at 1 p.m. on Wednesday.
Please take a moment and visit https://www.naturespath.com/en-ca/gardens-for-good/#goldenrod-community-garden and click on "Vote for this Garden" (a green coloured box below the description), and click confirm when you receive your voting email. (You must be 18 years of age, and a resident of Canada or the US (excluding residents of Arizona and Quebec).
The WVCA applauds the work of Allegra and the group in bringing the Goldenrod Community Garden to Kitchissippi, and will heartily support the Garden going forward! I'm sure you'll begin to hear and see a lot more about the Garden in the coming months!
* * *
Here is more information on the GCG, taken from their Garden for Good proposal:
Situated near the urban centre of Canada’s capital (Ottawa, Canada) a mission of the Goldenrod Community Garden is to serve the needs of food-insecure citizens in Mechanicsville and Hintonburg by building and maintaining community organic gardens. The University of Ottawa has identified these neighbourhoods as a food desert; that is, for people who are low income or have mobility issues, significant barriers exist that limit access to healthy and affordable food. Goldenrod aims to remove some of those barriers. Recently, the National Capital Commission approved an urban land allotment, near Mechanicsville and Hintonburg, to develop Goldenrod Community Garden. The site was selected after many years of working with the City of Ottawa and Just Food (a local, non-profit). There are currently no community gardens located in this area so this is truly an allotment to celebrate!
Our Phase One build plan for this spring 2021 includes: 30 garden beds/80 garden plots (some wheelchair accessible), a shed, compost bins, fences, water storage and plumbing. Goldenrod’s focus on the food-insecure has resonated. Over 20 people have volunteered to the Build Committee, many more to simply build. The 80 garden plots will allow local families, groups, and individuals to garden. COVID-19 has curtailed community gathering at a time when we need each other most. Goldenrod will allow for COVID-safe gardening.
We have partnered with the Parkdale Food Centre and the Somerset West Community Health Program to identify and connect with food insecure neighbours interested in gardening with Goldenrod. Parkdale Food Centre is a local food bank whose community outreach includes social enterprise and food literacy programs. Somerset West Community Health Program provides specialized health, educational, social and recreational programs to people in need. Just Food, another partner for the garden, is a local, non-profit community-based organization that works on both rural and urban food and farming issues in Ottawa and the surrounding region. We are grateful that Just Foods has provided a build grant to Goldenrod, but there remains a shortfall of CDN $5,000 (USD 4,000). Gardens for Good funding would fill our shortfall and enable Goldenrod Community Garden to achieve our Phase One spring build plan. That would allow a spring planting. Harvest then could begin by early-to-mid summer. Our neighbours are hungry for fresh organic produce. Please – partner with us.
(Sample community garden illustration below borrowed from https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/0da2f83e-2658-4d79-a64c-d127fd32d317/McCarver-Park-Community-Garden)
The Wellington Village Community association is seeking your input! Please take just 5-10 minutes to share your thoughts about redevelopment at Tunney's Pasture.
You can access the survey here: https://forms.gle/
All community members (not just Wellington Village residents) are invited to participate.
The WVCA created this survey to seek YOUR input about the future redevelopment of Tunney's Pasture. Your responses will help the WVCA--and other local community associations--ensure that our time and efforts reflect the interests and priorities of local residents on this issue.
The survey is the first step in what will become a many-years focus for our association as we strive to make a difference in the planning of the Tunney's Pasture site. We have been in touch with some of the key partners involved in the development plan, and hope to bring some community information/consultation sessions to our residents soon.
For now, we are gathering input from local residents to help us in our communications with government officials and consultants working on the plan.
Thank you for your time, and remember to keep an eye on our WVCA website, newsletter, Facebook page and Twitter feed for more news on Tunney's Pasture, as it continues to be our top ongoing focus.
Again that survey link is: https://forms.gle/
If you have any additional questions or comments on the survey, or have any technical issues, please contact us at president@wvca.ca
Thank you
Dave Allston, on behalf of the WVCA Board of Directors
(source of photos: https://www.hok.com/projects/view/tunneys-pasture-master-plan/)
On March 15th, the WVCA sent a letter of support for the Mechanicsville Community Association and Big Trees Kitchissippi, in opposition to the NCC's Embassy Row proposal. The letter below was sent to Tobi Nussbaum of the NCC, our MP Catherine McKenna, our Councillor Jeff Leiper, and Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, among others.
* * *
Good day,
The Wellington Village Community Association (WVCA) is writing to urge the National Capital Commission (NCC) to withdraw its plan to build six diplomatic offices and parking lots on prime greenspace along the Ottawa River and urge the City of Ottawa to deny the NCC’s application to amend the zoning for this parcel of land.
We fully support the efforts of the Mechanicsville Community Association and Big Trees of Kitchissippi to protect this open woodland area and habitat for rare birds along the Ottawa River for the benefit of the larger community and our environment. Its development would not only further reduce greenspace and the forest canopy in our neighbourhood, already under intense development pressures, but also create an electrified wall between the community and the Ottawa River and serve a potential source of contaminants in proximity to the Lemieux Water Treatment Plant.
The city declared climate change an emergency just two years ago following devastating floods in 2017 and 2019. The new Official Plan aspires to embed “public health, environmental, climate and energy resiliency into the framework of our planning policies.” It would be counterproductive to say the least to move forward with a development that increases the risk of flooding of shoreline communities. The NCC’s proposal represents a step backward in our efforts to address climate change and undermines the relationship between our community, the City and the NCC.
As Councillor Leiper noted in his newsletter, “While the City and NCC’s plans have for several years anticipated the kind of development now being proposed, we have an opportunity to take a pause and consider whether this is the right use for this valuable parcel so close to the best transportation infrastructure in the city.” We would be very pleased to participate in such a discussion.
Dave Allston
President, on behalf of the Board of Directors
Wellington Village Community Association
The WVCA is proud to be co-hosting, along with the Hintonburg Community Association, a virtual event, "Wellness in Wellington West"!
It takes place this coming Friday evening, March the 12th, from 7-9 pm!
Pre-registration is required, and easy! You can sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/wellness-in-wellington-west-tickets-143662074131
The event is free and all are welcome!! Hope to see many of you there!
***
Are you looking for different and creative ways to support your health and wellness as we continue to #stayathome?
The Hintonburg Community Association and the Wellington Village Community Association with support of the Wellington West BIA have teamed up with Arc of Life Chiropractic Natural Health Group Aurelius Food Co. MapleCare Physiotherapy Clinic PranaShanti Yoga Centre and terra20 who have some great ideas to share!
This event will feature five interactive sessions on five different aspects of wellness. No materials will be needed to participate an all are welcome to join. Feel free to pop in with a snack or beverage for a workshop that interest you, or stay for the whole time!
7:00 - Welcoming Remarks
7:15 - Making our Home Work Environments More Ergonomic with Arc of Life Chiropractic
Whether you’re working from home, doing virtual learning, or just on your devices more these days, Dr. Pauline So of Arc of Life Chiropractic will walk you through the best ways to use your tech devices without wrecking yourself and having more energy for the things you love!
7:30 - Spa at Home with terra20
Alexa Paz of terra20 will show you how you can bring all the elements of a spa right to your home!
7:50 - Healthy Snacks with Olive Oil with Aurelius Food Co.
Mike George of Aurelius Food Co. will chat about what makes olive oil a great addition to a healthy diet and will offer tips on how to use olive oil and balsamic to boost your recipes.
8:10 - Intermission, featuring a surprise guest!
8:20 - Stretches with MapleCare Physiotherapy Clinic
8:40 - Introduction to Meditation with PranaShanti Yoga Centre
Join Devinder Kaur of PranaShanti Yoga Centre for a mini introduction to the benefits of meditation, and learn a great meditation to help manage stress for a good night's sleep.
The WVCA board meets on Monday evening at 7:30 p.m. for our monthly board meeting. Our focus topics at the current time are Tunney's Pasture development plans and the Official Plan.
Members of the community are always welcome to attend. At present we continue to meet virtually. The link to Monday's meeting is: https://meet.google.com/izd-kzdq-ian
Previous meeting minutes can be found in the "Meetings" tab of our website.
Good day,
As you may be beginning to notice, the WVCA has begun using our website platform and newsletter tool more actively. It is our intention to share predominantly Wellington Village-based information and updates. You'll see that the information we shared yesterday (on the proposed embassy row in Mechanicsville) and the two items below relate more to neighbouring CAs. We have shared these updates not only to offer support to our community group colleagues, but because we feel it is important for the residents of Wellington Village to be aware of these issues, in part because it could (and likely will) be things we will be dealing with soon too.
So I trust you won't mind receiving the occasional just-outside-Wellington Village update, when our board feels it is important to share.
Thank you, and I do hope you'll take a moment and read the important information below.
Dave Allston
President, WVCA
* * *
The WVCA shares some of the concerns raised in a letter we received today. regarding the Westboro Infill Study. The full content of the email can be seen at the link below. It begins:
"This Thursday, February 11, 2021, the City Council’s Planning Committee will make a decision that could radically transform much of Westboro’s residential neighbourhood.
City staff have finalized their proposals to revise the zoning for the area of Westboro covered by the Interim Control Bylaw (Byron to the north, Dovercourt to the south, Tweedsmuir to the east, and Golden to the west). And, in his most recent newsletter, Councillor Jeff Leiper has indicated that he will be supporting the proposed bylaw amendments that will enable developers to pursue more intensive infill development in Westboro.
If you have concerns about the impact of the intensified infill development that will be authorized by the new zoning provisions (or if you support the proposals for increased intensification of our neighbourhood) now is the time to speak up."
Full text of the letter HERE
The Planning Committee Agenda can be found at this link: HERE (The Westboro Infill Study appears as item 4, on page 5).
* * *
The WVCA supports the great efforts of the Westboro Residents Group, an informal network of neighbours, who are fighting a City bylaw amendment that will allow Domicile Developments to build a massively overs-scaled mixed use condo/retail building.
They wrote to us recently:
"As you may know, we appealed the City's decision before the Local Planning Appeals Tribunal, and we expect to get a decision this Spring or Summer. Unfortunately, the challenge cost more than twice our initial estimate by the covid -19 pandemic. The pandemic has also made fundraising very difficult. We need to raise $18,000 to pay professional fees resulting from our appeal."
They have shared a letter (click HERE) and a notice (click HERE) which I would encourage you to read, and consider supporting them in their battle.
The WVCA has a modest budget which does not afford us the ability to contribute on behalf of the association, but we are certainly happy to spread the word for them, as their work is admirable and impressive, and is to be absolutely applauded.
