Delhi Park a Place for Nature

Re: Delhi Pickleball Courts Spark Debate (News, May 13). How many towns are privileged to have a  natural green space close to the main street, a place where they can see herons fishing, ducks and redwing blackbirds clinging to cattails? A place of shade, peace and a quiet stroll?

Delhi Park was once a dump because it was a marsh and nobody thought it was useful land. We now know that marshes have a purpose in the landscape. It was covered over at a later date with three feet of soil and became a park. 

This peaceful place is now to have six pickleball courts. It will be be paved over and lit up with bright lights till late in the evening. Traffic will generate more noise and disruption. No doubt the birds will leave and those who enjoy a quiet stroll will stay away.

 Gradually we take away habitat for those we share the planet with and lose those things we love. 

Surely the pickleball courts could be located at the fairgrounds, already hosting sports facilities and with plenty of parking. Save Delhi Park in its natural state.

Susan Banks, Picton

Affordability not just about Funds

Re: Funding Shortfall for Housing Corporation (News, April 29). On the surface, the issue looks simple: a nearly complete project faces a funding shortfall of roughly $460,000, along with additional equity requirements. Council is considering options—extending timelines, waiving fees, reallocating funds, seeking private partners, even launching a public campaign. It looks like a funding problem. 

But the real issue is risk. Even with most funding in place, the project is fragile. Lenders worry about tenant defaults. Repayment timelines exert pressure. The system assumes stable income and uninterrupted payments—but those are not guaranteed. Additional funding will not remove that risk; it will extend it.

The concerns raised at council point directly to this. The need to assemble funding from multiple sources shows how little coordination exists across the system. The project is struggling because the functions that create stability are not in place.

This is what makes the example instructive. Even when a project is viable and broadly supported, it can stall if the underlying system is unstable. The funding shortfall points to deeper structural gaps.

The solution must address those gaps. Income reliability is central. When income is unstable, housing is unstable. Improving predictability—through employment pathways, income supports, or structured rent models—reduces risk.

Both households and projects need buffers. Tools such as stabilization funds or rent banks allow temporary disruptions to be managed without triggering a crisis.

Structural supports also matter. Cooperative and supportive housing models create stability the market alone cannot deliver.

And coordination is critical. Housing systems involve multiple actors—governments, developers, lenders, and service providers. Stability depends on how well these pieces align.

We already know this works. Supportive housing models, particularly those using a Housing First approach, consistently show that when people are housed with appropriate supports, they are far more likely to remain housed over time. As stability improves, risk declines—and as risk declines, projects become easier to sustain and, in many cases, easier to finance.

That has direct implications for local projects. Closing funding gaps remains necessary, but it is not sufficient. Strengthening income reliability, adding modest financial buffers, and improving coordination can change the risk profile of a project. As risk falls, more funding options open up. The goal is not simply to supply housing. It is to ensure that what we build is stable.

Mark Tremblay, Prince Edward County

MP Malette Not Good on Correspondence

Re: The Terminal Lobby (November 12, 2025). Following the news in the Gazette about quarrying at Picton Terminals, I wrote to our MP on 3 April asking him if he would help to make clear that Picton Terminals is not a federally-regulated port. Not having heard from him by 16 April, I sent my e-mail letter again, asking, “What’s your response?” When I had none by 28 April, I sent my previous messages again, asking “Is it your policy never to reply to letters from your constituents?”  Unfortunately, I have no answer to that question either.

Frankly, I expect better from an MP.

Peter Jepson, Prince Edward County

Living Well

With wit and wisdom, in On the Threshold (Personal Essay, May 13), Alan Gratias nails down his formula for living well and “growing old gracefully.”  I only wish I’d written the piece.

I would add one other point to his, though. My # 18: Each morning as you wake up and each night as you are falling asleep, choose to say to yourself one or more reasons for which you feel grateful that morning or evening. A list or a single item will do.

I’m sharing this seventeen-point recipe with my friends who are in the same cohort, more or less.

JC Sulzenko, South Marysburgh