How green is Cramahe?

Another Cramahe Now reader questions Cramahe's "green" plans

The recent letter from Ms Ross touched on a burr that's been in my seat for a while.

Starting with the New Logo and Signage. While I must admit they are quite fetching, and the "In Our Nature" seems a proper fit as your driving through of our beautiful township, but the cost to implement this would probably be a good years salary to anyone not working in Cramahe.

Designing a new logo(twice) and all the tender confusion with the signs, not to mention changing our letterhead and public vehicles, and whatever else needs re branding, Cramahe council is putting the cart before the horse.

What I'm getting at is that it all seems to be a tourism grab, which is fine, but you have to get some steak with the sauce!! You'd think that anyone visiting Cramahe would easily find a place to go and actually enjoy "Our Nature". But you can't.

Is Cramahe Forest open to the Public? It sure looks well used. Why isn't there decent parking, a few picnic tables, a big map with walking or cross country ski loops? What about Lone Pine Marsh or Red Cloud Cemetery? I bet they'd like one of those new eco garbage cans that are all over town? Or maybe give them some free publicity on the big cupola at the 401.

And could we not have signs directing folks through our township to all the other nature venues around us, Goodrich-Loomis, Peter's Woods, Wicklow Beach? And I'm sure I heard that some of us live in that new Greenbelt area the tree huggers are trying to save and the government's pouring money into. How come we haven't cashed in on that?

Our own patch of water at Little Lake could use some attention. It's the only public place that I know of in the township for residents to swim, and more could be done with it. With the loss of the Rural Ramble, the real people that live closest to nature are again taken it in the teeth. This event brought hundreds of people to our countryside.

Why hasn't Cramahe done more to promote our local farms? The Northumberland Farm Gate Guide has a few listed but I'm sure there's more out here. And now thanks to another non enforceable By-law, they have to put up with ATV's cutting through their property or ripping up fields and cutting fence. Why has our council bowed to the city-ots who come out here and buy an acre and think they can drive where ever they want!

It just seems to me that so much attention has gone into Colborne's needs and the ongoing, much needed, repairs to Castleton's Town Hall that we've forgotten about all the natural little pockets of Cramahe that could be used to draw in tourists or be enjoyed by the good people that live here.

Some money needs to be spent on what we already have. Our township is way more than just Colborne and Castleton, and our current council has done many good things for those community's, but we still need more rural representation and there's and election coming up.

P.S. A gazebo would be nice in Victoria Square, and a way under $40,000 if it was made from cedar or pine from our forest, sawed at a local mill, and built by our local guys.

R. Rebel
Cramahe Twp