Recent meetings regarding the future of Bond Head’s heritage buildings – in particular, the ‘Quaint House’ on County Rd. 88 – have been well attended.
Bond Head residents packed a Bradford Council meeting when the issue of designating the Quaint House was raised; they filled the basement of the Bond Head Community Hall when the developer presented his plans for the historic building.
Credit has to go in large part to the ‘Bond Head Five’ – five residents who have made it their business to research the issues and notify their fellow citizens of upcoming meetings and debates.
The five are Dave Morton, Lynda Usher, Sarah Lough, Nicole Allison and David Wigglesworth. They have not only accepted their role as a group dedicated to listening to the concerns of residents and presenting those concerns to town staff, developers and council – they have formalized it.
In a meeting last Thursday, they adopted a new mission statement for their group: “To improve communications between the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury and the Bond Head residents, and address a variety of issues of concern to the hamlet in general. To preserve the character and ambience of the hamlet of Bond Head, by protecting the heritage buildings and enhancing the streetscapes as defined in the Town’s Official Plan 16.”
They have notified residents of meetings by putting up flyers and posting notices on Facebook and they have invited anyone living in Bond Head to contact them, to share the issues facing the community.
The Bond Head Five will hopefully be meeting with town staff and BWG Council – especially Mayor Rob Keffer and Ward Councillor Ron Orr – before the end of the month to discuss the concerns, major and minor, that residents have brought to their attention.
Bond Head is one of the oldest communities in Simcoe County. It also has one of the most complete and untouched 19th century streetscapes in the region.
The Bond Head Five have vowed to work for its preservation and encourage residents to contact them through their Facebook page here. To sign up for their newsletter, click here.