
Testimony of the Participants
Several important points were made by the participants in their evidence.They are all, with the exception of Mr. L. Ryan, residents of Stratford.Mr. Ryan stated his support of the Avonwood appeals.The others spoke in opposition to the Avonwood appeals.Residents of the City in opposition to the Avonwood appeals expressed their view that the success of the Shakespearean Festival and the Downtown Core are inextricably linked – “as goes the one, so goes the other” as one witness put it. According to this group, locating a large format retail store, such as a Walmart store, in the West End Commercial Area (rather than on the Avonwood lands in the east end Industrial Area of the City) would help achieve the planned objective of City Council for what the City’s expert witnesses described as a three-node retail structure balanced along an east/west axis. This structure would, they contended, have the least impact on the economic health of the Downtown Core. All members of this group agreed that the protection of the Downtown Core is a priority. They perceived that another large format retail store located near the existing retailers in the Ontario Street East Commercial Area would be a threat to the Downtown Core.They also testified that since the City’s motto connotes the dual pillars on which Stratford is built – industry and the arts - the removal of any land from the industrial inventory for use as a commercial retail shopping centre would be contrary to the City’s mission and a threat to its attractiveness as a centre for clean industry, which could result in a loss of well-paid industrial jobs.
C. Hefferon
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