Q&A: What will you do as Mayor to build a more sustainable for Cobourg?

Sustainability keeps coming up during this campaign, and residents deserve a clear answer on what I will actually do about it. Here is my response to a question I was asked via email about building a more sustainable future for Cobourg, and how I plan to lead on it as Mayor.

Q: What will you do as Mayor to build a more sustainable future for Cobourg?

While important, sustainability goes beyond meeting simple, corporate, climate targets. It is also concerned with how we can protect our existing waterfront and green spaces, connect our neighbourhoods and community spaces, manage public infrastructure, support the biodiversity, and prepare Cobourg for a growing, modern future without placing an unaffordable burden on future generations. Failing to plan is planning to fail.

As outlined in my platform, I will refocus Cobourg’s Integrated Community Sustainability Plan to ensure our decisions are financially responsible, environmentally sustainable, and driven by practical actions that deliver visible results.

Here is what that could look like in Cobourg:

Protect our waterfront and natural areas by supporting shoreline protection, tree canopy growth, and the preservation of green space. We need to pursue formal protection for the natural areas at the west beach, address concerns about runoff from the marina’s west parking lot and move forward with work on the east pier and harbour walls. Simple steps, such as no-idling signage at our busiest waterfront parking areas, can also make an important difference immediately.

Wetlands belong in this conversation too. This election, Ontario Nature is asking municipal candidates across the province to commit to investing in wetland restoration and stewardship. Cobourg does not have large wetland systems, but the ones in and around our community matter: the forest south of St. Mary's behind Chris Garrett Park, the two waterfront marshes between Cobourg and Port Hope, the Laurie Lawson Outdoor Education Centre north of town, and the significant wetlands around the Wesleyville property. Wetlands filter runoff before it reaches the lake, absorb stormwater and support local wildlife. Several of these areas sit outside our boundaries, which is why Cobourg should work with our neighbouring municipalities and with the Northumberland Land Trust, which already manages a significant number of important wetland properties in our area.

Build a connected trail network. Trails for non-motorized transport must be part of how Cobourg plans for growth, not an afterthought once development is complete. I will support requiring trail connections in new developments, while also working to close the gaps in our currently insufficient network. That could include extending the Kerr Street trail west to Ontario Street, and creating a north-south connection along Cobourg Creek, away from roads.  We can also dream big and long-term by revisiting the legacy concept of exploring a waterfront connection between Cobourg and Port Hope.

Better trails are not only about recreation. They too give seniors, young people and residents who do not drive safer ways to reach downtown, the CCC, and other parts of our community. They also help reduce traffic, noise, and emissions - all things which would improve the quality of life of residents as Cobourg grows.

Lead by example with Town-owned buildings and infrastructure. When Cobourg constructs or substantially renovates a public building, sustainable features such as solar energy and water conservation should be considered from the beginning, alongside their costs and long-term benefits. I also support exploring incentives that encourage developers and property owners to incorporate features such as solar panels and rain barrels.

We should also examine motion-activated lighting along appropriate pathways and around/within public buildings. Other municipalities are already using this technology and benefitting from a myriad of its results, including reducing electricity costs, minimizing light pollution, and lessoning the human impact on local wildlife. Of course, a modern lighting solution also needs to provide an appropriate level of accessibility and public safety, but we do not need to invent new solutions to this problem when we can learn from what is already working elsewhere more sustainably.

Strengthen our local food system. Food sustainability belongs in this conversation too. Our town can support community gardens and edible landscaping on suitable municipal land, consider opportunities for food-growing space when parks and neighbourhoods are designed, and support local farmers and food businesses.   We can also bring together local food banks, the Farmers’ Market, schools, businesses and community organizations to reduce food waste, redirect usable food where it is needed and improve access to healthy food. The Town cannot solve food insecurity alone, but it can help remove barriers, connect partners and strengthen the local systems already doing this work.  From a policy perspective we can gain a better understanding from groups such as Northumberland Food Policy Council to learn about what we can doing as a lower-tier municipality.

Put residents and local expertise at the table. Cobourg is fortunate to have organizations such as Willow Beach Field Naturalists, the Cobourg Ecology Garden, Community Power Northumberland, Blue Dot Northumberland and the Northumberland Land Trust, along with residents who bring valuable professional and lived experience to these issues.  

My platform commits to bringing citizen advisory committees back into the Town’s governance structure. That includes reinstating the Planning and Development Advisory Committee and creating an ongoing Parks and Recreation advisory role to help track implementation of the new master plan. Residents should be involved while priorities and solutions are being developed, not after decisions have already been made.

Cobourg has completed good studies and received thoughtful recommendations. The problem has too often been what happens next. I will push for clear priorities, identified responsibilities, realistic funding plans and public reporting so residents can see what has been completed, what remains outstanding and why.

For me, a sustainable Cobourg is one that only grows responsibly, protects the natural assets that make this community so special, and follows through on the commitments it makes from the input of its own residents. That is the work I am prepared to lead.