Junction Triangle

Naomi was at this meeting and came away feeling that this was all far too preliminary to really have any opinion. Until you actually see drawings and a site proposal (ie when money is being spent) nothing should be assumed.

She had these comments:

--that there no real mention of how the development (whatever it is) will effect resources like schools in the area.

--Most of the plans about retail and jobs were so vague as to be imaginary. The marketplace will dictate what the design is down the road and we are not there yet. Job estimates seem very high.

--comments about traffic at Bloor seemed unrealistic

--knowledge of Railpath seemed vague and out of sync with progressive design. There is an obvious opportunity to tie in additional green space with railpath.

--little clear direction on "Section 37 money" ie what might we get from the developer in return. There was talk of a bridge over rail but that was then pawned off as a City expense and anybody who builds bridges over that kind of distance needs lots of money. This an expense the developer could contribute too.

--seemed very vague about mitigation of soil contamination. Remediation apparently will not cover all the site so what the physical implications of mitigation?

Remember these people used "Pinewood Studios" as a barging chip with Filmport a year ago and got everybody excited about a studio that was never going to be built so like all developers, keep the eyeballs glued and the pressure on.