Dear Editor:
Remember those cartoons where Lucy would invite Charlie Brown to kick the football and every time he ran up, just as he was about to connect, Lucy would pull it away and he would crash onto his back? Well, the Hinton Recreation Centre would be a good spot for that stunt.
In the old Peanuts gag, every time Charlie Brown would be determined not to get tricked again but Lucy would talk him into it and he’d end up on his back again. And in the new Hinton one, every time we think we’re in a position to make a decision on a new Rec Centre the planning gets yanked away at the last minute, leaving us looking and feeling silly. Most recently, Town Council was again working on a new report on major renovations to the Recreation Centre, and a councillor mentioned that it would likely become a fall election issue. How many times has this topic been an election issue or the subject of a high-level report to council? Yet it seems we’re about to kick empty air again.
The series of costly reports on this topic include the Barr Ryder Report (2007), the Recreation Centre Feasibility Report (2012), the Duncan Murray Recreation Business Case (2017) and more recently the High-level Lifestyle Cost Comparison of Three Conceptual Facility options (2024). Also, on the 2017 to 2021 council there was a public survey where extensive public input was collected on this topic. Again in the 2021 election all candidates were asked their thoughts on a plan for the Recreation Centre. Finally a small construction reserve has been set up for the recreation centre which had $1.25 million in it as of the end of 2023. Yet every time we try to kick, there’s no ball.
The latest yanking away of existing planning in 2023/24 was the very real need to plan and pay for a new water treatment plant and related underground infrastructure. This construction will cause an increase of $2.8 million per year in utility fees – the equivalent of a 20.5% tax increase. Meaning the average homeowner will have to pay an extra $840 per year over the next 2 years. And it’s a very real question how receptive taxpayers will be, after enduring that increase in fees, to significant increases in taxes to pay major construction costs for a recreation centre. It’s going to be especially hard to convince the 60 to 70% of the Hinton population that doesn’t use the existing facility that they should pay for a new improved one.
The one tactic that hasn’t been used in the past 12 years on this topic is a plebiscite - as was recommended by the 2009 to 2013 council. In the 2013 election a new pool was a priority and most of the councillors at the time stated that one should only be advanced only on the basis of a plebiscite. A current councillor (not me) was quoted in 2013 that: “When I see the results of a plebiscite I will know where the community as a whole stands; ultimately this is the most important factor, the Will of the People.” So why not on this issue?
A plebiscite held during the 2025 election and listing fully costed out capital and operating costs, and the cost implications for each taxpayer, will provide something solid if it is successful – the empowerment of the 2025 to 2029 council to act decisively on this topic. And if it fails, a clear indication to the new council not to go ahead.
Surely this topic is not too complex for the average voter, especially if a one-page document gives a fair explanation of the basic costs.
If not, I suggest we put a picture of Lucy in front of the current recreation centre holding an expensive report.
Regards,
Stuart Taylor, Member of Hinton Council
