The Era Banner is a champion for the proposed mega development at Slessor Square in Newmarket.

Fair enough.

It is a free country so they can say what they like.

But they shouldn’t stop other people from expressing an honest point of view.

This week the Era banner published a letter from Shrink Slessor Square supporter, Bob Bahielda, but, crucially, they removed his criticism of their own editorial line on the issue.

Bob says: “They removed the first sentence and made other modifications to the print letter. The edits are indefensible because they criticize the editorial directly.”

Bob’s Suggested headline

Why Let the Truth Get in the Way of a Good Editorial?  

morphed into

We don’t need towers to accomplish growth

So, here is Bob’s letter with the bits cut out by the Era Banner editor struck through.

Re: Editorial: Growing Up a Little Bit Not Answer for Town. February 23, 2012

I would like to point out the gross error made by The Era Editorial. It quotes the town's growth projection as being 97,000 residents by 2031. To the best of my knowledge the actual figure is approximately 13,000. The provincial intensification corridor along Yonge Street is expected to produce approximately 9,000 of this increase.

What your editorial also fails to mention in supporting growth and opposing a cap on height is that the town of Newmarket's planning department acknowledges that the provincial growth targets of at least 200 persons/jobs/hectare can be  easily achieved by the town's current plan that targets between 200 and 250 persons/jobs/hectare.

The Slessor Square development is more than 800 persons/jobs/hectare and is completely unnecessary at its proposed height.

The already approved 20 storey condominium tower at Davis and George Street has even greater density.  

We do not need massive towers to accomplish the growth that the province, the Region of York and the Town of Newmarket want.

In the process we can also think carefully about creating people and family friendly streetscapes the revitalize our core and attract people to this area instead of simply adding buildings and traffic.

The cap of 15 stories suggested by Regional Councillor Taylor is both reasonable and sustainable.

It is a legitimate compromise position that still allows intensification but preserves the quality of life the residents demand. 

No one wants out of control development with few restrictions.

Developers come and go but the residents of Newmarket will live with the consequences of these decisions long after they are gone.

We have no obligation to pander to their demands. At the very least let's make the decisions based on the correct infomation.

Dr. R. Bahlieda M.A., Ed. D.