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Petition on new school spurs Council debate

August 1, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

A petition opposing plans for a new high school on the Banting Homestead opened yet another discussion on the subject at New Tecumseth Council’s regular meeting on Monday, July 22.

The petition, submitted by local resident Karine Brown, was signed by around 50 people opposed to a new high school at the Banting location.

The petition cited several reasons residents don’t want the school built on the site, including the fact that the location is culturally significant, as well as concerns over traffic congestion, vandalism, and the lowering of property values.

The push to build a new high school has been ongoing for several years, as the current Banting Memorial High School needs major repairs.

Several sites have been considered for a new high school including the Banting Heritage site. Other suggestions have been to build the new school next to the current building, or at G.A. Wright Athletic Field.

Councillor Alan Masters said he thought building the new school on the Banting is a good idea, saying he didn’t think fears expressed in the petition would apply to a new school.

“I’m not aware of any real concerns in this regard with schools that have been built here in Alliston over the past few years,” Councillor Masters said.

He went on to say having the school on the site would add an agricultural and medical aspect to education at the school.

Deputy Mayor Stephanie MacLellan said she has been in contact with the Banting family.

Keeping the property as farmland, she said, was the intention of the Banting family when the property was donated.

A school could have been built, “years ago,” had the School Board not focused their efforts on Heritage Lands, she said.

Councillor Nicole Cox said it was “a huge battle for the municipality to get this 100 acres designated under the heritage designation,” adding “The farmland that is there, does represent Banting’s development of insulin.”

Councillor Shira Harrison McIntyre said there have never been any other options for a school site, provided by the school board.

“This heritage property had a substantial amount of cost to designate it, there was a lot of archaeological findings on the property,” Councillor Harrison McIntyre said. “We want to support our children by having a brand new school for them, but this is not the right spot. My message, (to the School Board) would be ‘no’, come forward with another proposal, or don’t come forward with another proposal, just find somewhere else that isn’t a designated property.”

A motion was tabled and passed to work with the school board to continue discussing the project and bring forward the points and concerns raised at the July 22 council meeting. 

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