To Mayor Milt McIver and Council, Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula,
The core members from the Tobermory Housing Committee are requesting that a Committee of Council be established with a focus on action for affordable housing. We observe that other Municipalities in Bruce County and nearby counties are increasing their commitment in this area of work and as volunteers we would be re-energized to continue our involvement within a new structure.
Some Background:
As you may know there has been a Housing Committee in Tobermory for over 10 years. To date, the work of the Committee has not led to the development of new affordable or mixed rental housing. The Committee continues to believe that there is a need for attainable rental housing. Consultations undertaken by the Committee in the past few years suggest that there are three target groups in need of, or interested in, additional rental units in Tobermory.
• people with low income requiring “affordable” housing
• people, including young families, employed by local seasonal businesses and wishing to live in Tobermory year round, who are unable find reasonably priced housing to rent or own
• people able to afford market rent or who would like to have the option of downsizing from a detached home to a smaller dwelling.
The most recent work of community volunteers was the submission of an application for Seed Funding to the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The Meeting Place and the Tobermory United Church collaborated on the proposal. Unfortunately the request was declined in late June due to an administrative omission, although some of the activities are still relevant. The funds requested from Trillium were to hire a part-time, skilled, research co-ordinator who would work with a Steering Committee to:
-document the number of people in Tobermory in need of rental housing, the specific housing challenges they face and the type of housing needed
-collect information about innovative housing designs being built elsewhere
-review the types of governance organizations in place in other communities that are successfully developing and managing the innovative housing models
-pave the way for a realistic development plan, including funding assessment, to build an affordable or mixed rental housing project with a focus on the village of Tobermory
After the Seed Grant was declined, Brad Inglis from Tobermory United Church, Noreen Steinacher Chair of The Meeting Place, and Glenda Clarke, community volunteer, met via Zoom on July 10th with Peggy Van Mierlo-West and Ryan Deska to explore the status of any work currently underway by the municipality on housing issues. We were encouraged to submit a letter to Council outlining our concerns and requests. Thank you for your consideration in joining the work that needs to be done.
Sincerely,
Glenda Clarke, for the Tobermory Housing Committee
