Delhi Park Pathway a Real Alternative to a Funicular

Re: Model Railway (The Fiction Gazette, April 1). The April 1st image of a funicular climbing the Marsh Creek Valley’s steep slopes gave me a good chuckle!

Humour aside, I genuinely appreciated the editor’s intention to spark much-needed dialogue about movement and how we connect Picton’s neighbourhoods across this valley landscape. The underlying motive—to focus attention on the need for connectivity and encourage discussion about what we envision for this cultural heritage landscape—is commendable.

Delhi Park, along with its adjacent ridges and sidewalks, is perfectly positioned to serve as a vital corridor for movement—provided that plans prioritize equity, inclusivity, and accessibility.

This 31-acre space, the County’s largest public green space, holds a rich, layered history: from an Indigenous portage route linking Picton Bay to East and West Lakes, to land that was filled and reshaped as a town dump, and now a place for recreation, wildlife sanctuary, and quiet reflection. How can we leverage Delhi Park to design walkable, accessible, and vibrant communities?

Following Council’s June 2024 acceptance of the Delhi Park Community Connections Plan (available online), the Friends of Delhi Park group was formed. Our goal is to continue raising public awareness forthis vision, which was unfortunately deemed unfundable at the time. Since then, we have shared the plan with the Picton Rotary Club, at Seedy Saturday 2025, and most recently during Flashback February’s Delhi Then and Now event with the PEC Heritage Conservancy, The Department of Illumination, and the Aurora Borealis Community Choir at Macaulay Museum.

We eagerly await the day the Gazette reports that the County is moving forward with the much-needed phase 1 priority: bringing an accessible pathway to life, linking Macaulay Village to the high school, library, and Picton Main Street through Delhi Park.

“Friends of” groups are powerful tools for uniting people around shared community interests. The Friends of Delhi Park continues to advocate for the park as a whole, engaging in conversations about heritage, environmental protection, and broad community, stakeholder, and rightsholder involvement as we collectively shape the park’s next chapter. Find us on Facebook.

It has been over 40 years since the town dump closed and the park officially opened in 1984. It is time to embrace the opportunities this space offers: adding washrooms and picnic tables, improving lighting, installing public art, planting more trees, and, most critically, making pathways accessible so the park can truly welcome everyone.

Let’s keep smiling. Let’s keep talking!

Victoria Taylor, Picton

School Board Lacks Oversight

Magic is a matter of illusion. Its success depends entirely on distracting the observer so they do not see what is actually taking place. As taxpayers—the ultimate employers of this educational system—we refuse to be distracted from the facts by those who offer only the illusion of responsible stewardship.

Taxpayers fund every aspect of our educational system. We are the employers. The Tri-Board directors are obligated to us for the faithful and wise dispensation of this funding. They are assisted by elected trustees, whom we have placed in office to monitor, question, and ensure that the Board’s actions align with the public interest.

Recent actions suggest a troubling shift where Process is being placed before Purpose. The Board is currently defying its employers by protecting its internal mechanics over its actual mission:

We have witnessed the censure of a trustee for attempting to gain clarity—a move involving court actions that resulted in massive legal costs for the individual without any resolution of the underlying concerns.

When an elected official asks for a record of safety violations by current bus operators and is directed to the Freedom of Information (FOI) process—for which they must pay— oversight has failed.

The awarding of busing contracts to foreign entities is a shell game. On the surface, the buses look the same, the drivers are our neighbors, and oversight remains under Ontario regulations. Even the names on the sides of the buses suggest a local identity.

In reality, however, it is a drain of community wealth. Profit is necessary to build infrastructure and purchase goods that sustain a local economy. By offshoring these contracts, the Board ensures our tax dollars flow away to foreign entities. There is no “trickle-down” benefit for our towns.

As a parent whose children were raised in this school system, as a former school bus driver who understands the front-line reality of this service, and as a taxpayer who continues to fund your mandates, I object strenuously to these decisions.

A board that refuses transparency and accountability has lost its way. You cannot subdue a community’s legitimate concerns by hiding behind “confidentiality” or “private” labels. I call upon the Board to reject these unwise contract decisions and return to a model that recognizes the essential connection between the school system and the community that sustains it.

Wayne Brough, Prince Edward County