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The following is an editorial by Marg Hennigar, the owner of The
Bulletin, a weekly newspaper in Bridgewater NS, concerning the opening
of the Osprey Ridge Golf Course and a concerned citizens reply. Her
original take on this was that public money should not be used for
private projects. She has now changed her view and wants everyone to get
behind the golf course and forget about the damage done to the local
watershed. A local group has filed charges against the golf course and
the construction company which is now before the courts. It appears
Marg's editoral is an effort to sway public opinion and in turn the
courts.
Neil Allard, LaHave River Watershed Enhancement
Foundation
Time to bury the hatchets (by Marg Hennigar) May 20,1998
The opening of Osprey Ridge Golf Course in Bridgewater this past
weekend was a long-awaited, exciting event for local golfers.
Congradulations to all who worked so hard to make this dream a reality.
They had hardly announced the new course before the complaints and
controversey began. Some people objected to the government funding,
others to the use of farm lands for recreational purposes. After months
of unusually wet weather, other people became concerned about silting
in nearby waterways and potential environmental problems.
We, too, think it's a stretch to treat a private golf course as a
public-funded infrastructure project. However, once construction
started, it was too late to reverse gears. The silting problems were
unfortunate, but the builders could not control the weather and did what
they could to protect the environment. Once the sun came out and the
grass got a foothold, those problems seem to have disappeared. As for
destroying valuable farm land, it could be worse. They don't pave golf
courses so most of Osprey Ridge could be a farm again, should the need
arise.
Local golfers love the new championship Osprey Ridge course. Most
consider it a great community asset. Hopefully the new club house will
provide more meeting rooms and banquet facilities.
There was more good golfing news last week. Golf professional Jerry
Byers and his wife bought the old Bridgewater course. That transaction
provided notonly an injection of cash for the Osprey Ridge loan, but
also a nine-hole alternative to the new 18-hole course. Rather than
competing head to head, the two courses should compliment each other
very nicely.
We presume the Bridgewater course fees will be lower than Osprey
Ridge, making the old course more affordable for fixed-income golfers
and youngsters learning to play. A multimillion dollar course is great,
but there are golfers who, for a variety of reasons, may still prefer to
play on something less than a championship course.
Even with golf's rapidly growing popularity, few small towns can
boast two golf courses. Bridgewater should now link with Chester,
Lunenburg and Liverpool to co-operatively promote the South Shore as a
golfing destination.
Next on the list is an oceanfront resort hotel to serve not just
visiting golfers, but the golfing, convention and upscale tourism needs
of the entire South Shore.
They might need a motel next to Osprey Ridge to provide rooms for
visiting golfers. However, it would be shortsighted to go after a luxury
hotel there just because the land is available. Resor hotels require
luxury settings to attract visitors with a wide range of tastes and
interests.
Bridgewater is most fortunate to have two different, complimentary
golf courses. Osprey Ridge is, from all reports, a top quality course
that has met or surpassed all expectations. Now, surely, it is time to
bury the hatchets and get on with more positive things. Perhaps we don't
always appreciate them, but we are blessed with many positive things in
this beautiful part of the world.
Marg
Hennigar
To the editor: (May 20,1998)
YOUR BIAS IS SHOWING
In this great and glorious land where the rich thrive on patronage
and brown nosing comes naturally, the managing editor of a local paper
proclaims that these poor golfers, who must pay up to forty dollars
everytime they take a walk on some artifically green turf should be
forgiven for de-spoiling a fishing stream and rubbing their neighbours
noses in the very mud that their grandiose project created in the first
place. At great cost to the taxpayer, I might add.
No, Marg, that's not good enough. Ypur paper has much more to gain
by supporting big business interests. Greater advertising revenue does
more for the bottom line than giving consideration to a handful of local
homeowner's doing their best to protect their homes and the environment.
The big guns behind this project had the opportunity to limit the
damage caused. Yet, they ignored laws, suggestions and proposals for
limiting siltation due to extra costs and possible delays to
construction. Cooperation shown the complaintants was practically nil. A
great number of the projects supporters have ridiculed and downplayed
the concerns of the Friends (Friends of Rhodenizer Lake). Your editor
missed a previous letter because the contents revealed the lengths to
which some people will go to destroy ones credibilty. I would still like
that letter published in its entirety at any time.
If someone showed up with a backhoe tomorrow morning, in front of
your home, and spent the next year fouling the harbour with silt and
mud, would you complain?
Your paper has shown its preference and bias time and again
throughout this debate. Whenever there was preferentialnews regarding
the golf course, it was given headlines. To justify the position taken
by the directors, it was suggested that a full page ad should be used to
explain their position. Not necessary, the club president gave a speech
complete with pictures at a local chamber and your paper gave them their
full page gratis. Just a week ago, two full pages, one being full
colour...again gratis! This show of support should put even more bucks
in the advertising till, goodwill can represent big dollars.
We strove to educate your readers with regards to silt damage,
misappropriation of funds, secret meetings and the like through our
letters to the editor. Your paper printed most of them, but never once
did you offer us a full page with bold headlines, gratis, to explain our
concerns regarding environmental protection and corruption. Your paper
and editorial staff went out of its' way to play down these concerns in
1997. An example of this tactic, was by NOT listing the golf course
muddle as one of your top stories in that year. Marg, go back and count
the articiles and letters and you will have to admit that the absence as
a top story was contrived.
Our local politican was in on this strategy as well. During the past
campaign his brochure took credit for being insrumental in every project
carried out on the South Shore for the past four years. The golf course
was NOT even mentioned. An oversight. I thinf not. A strategy, yes.
Play it down and it will go away! When the grass is green,
everything will be rosey....and forgotten? Forgiven, yes....forgotten,
hardly!
Ray Graham, spokesperson
Friends of Rhodenizer Lake, Oakhill & Dayspring N.S. (902) 543-1025
.
--------------8ADEB6E7F39087E5945A98FD
Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
<HTML>
The following is an editorial by Marg Hennigar, the
owner of The Bulletin, a weekly newspaper in Bridgewater NS, concerning
the opening of the Osprey Ridge Golf Course and a concerned citizens reply.
Her original take on this was that public money should not be used for
private projects. She has now changed her view and wants everyone to get
behind the golf course and forget about the damage done to the local watershed.
A local group has filed charges against the golf course and the construction
company which is now before the courts. It appears Marg's editoral is an
effort to sway public opinion and in turn the courts.
<BR>
Neil Allard, LaHave River Watershed Enhancement Foundation
<P><B>Time to bury the hatchets </B>(by Marg Hennigar) May 20,1998
<P> The opening of Osprey Ridge Golf Course in Bridgewater
this past weekend was a long-awaited, exciting event for local golfers.
Congradulations to all who worked so hard to make this dream a reality.
<BR> They had hardly announced the new course before
the complaints and controversey began. Some people objected to the government
funding, others to the use of farm lands for recreational purposes. After
months of unusually wet weather, other people became concerned about
silting in nearby waterways and potential environmental problems.
<BR> We, too, think it's a stretch to treat a private
golf course as a public-funded infrastructure project. However, once construction
started, it was too late to reverse gears. The silting problems were unfortunate,
but the builders could not control the weather and did what they could
to protect the environment. Once the sun came out and the grass got a foothold,
those problems seem to have disappeared. As for destroying valuable farm
land, it could be worse. They don't pave golf courses so most of Osprey
Ridge could be a farm again, should the need arise.
<BR> Local golfers love the new championship Osprey Ridge
course. Most consider it a great community asset. Hopefully the new club
house will provide more meeting rooms and banquet facilities.
<BR> There was more good golfing news last week. Golf
professional Jerry Byers and his wife bought the old Bridgewater course.
That transaction provided notonly an injection of cash for the Osprey Ridge
loan, but also a nine-hole alternative to the new 18-hole course. Rather
than competing head to head, the two courses should compliment each other
very nicely.
<BR> We presume the Bridgewater course fees will be lower
than Osprey Ridge, making the old course more affordable for fixed-income
golfers and youngsters learning to play. A multimillion dollar course is
great, but there are golfers who, for a variety of reasons, may still prefer
to play on something less than a championship course.
<BR> Even with golf's rapidly growing popularity, few
small towns can boast two golf courses. Bridgewater should now link with
Chester, Lunenburg and Liverpool to co-operatively promote the South Shore
as a golfing destination.
<BR> Next on the list is an oceanfront resort hotel to
serve not just visiting golfers, but the golfing, convention and upscale
tourism needs of the entire South Shore.
<BR> They might need a motel next to Osprey Ridge to
provide rooms for visiting golfers. However, it would be shortsighted to
go after a luxury hotel there just because the land is available. Resor
hotels require luxury settings to attract visitors with a wide range of
tastes and interests.
<BR> Bridgewater is most fortunate to have two different,
complimentary golf courses. Osprey Ridge is, from all reports, a top quality
course that has met or surpassed all expectations. Now, surely, it is time
to bury the hatchets and get on with more positive things. Perhaps we don't
always appreciate them, but we are blessed with many positive things in
this beautiful part of the world.
<BR>
Marg Hennigar
<P>To the editor: (May 20,1998)
<BR><B>YOUR BIAS IS SHOWING</B>
<P> In this great and glorious land where the rich thrive
on patronage and brown nosing comes naturally, the managing editor of a
local paper proclaims that these poor golfers, who must pay up to forty
dollars everytime they take a walk on some artifically green turf should
be forgiven for de-spoiling a fishing stream and rubbing their neighbours
noses in the very mud that their grandiose project created in the first
place. At great cost to the taxpayer, I might add.
<BR> No, Marg, that's not good enough. Ypur paper has
much more to gain by supporting big business interests. Greater advertising
revenue does more for the bottom line than giving consideration to a handful
of local homeowner's doing their best to protect their homes and the environment.
<BR> The big guns behind this project had the opportunity
to limit the damage caused. Yet, they ignored laws, suggestions and proposals
for limiting siltation due to extra costs and possible delays to construction.
Cooperation shown the complaintants was practically nil. A great number
of the projects supporters have ridiculed and downplayed the concerns of
the Friends (Friends of Rhodenizer Lake). Your editor missed a previous
letter because the contents revealed the lengths to which some people will
go to destroy ones credibilty. I would still like that letter published
in its entirety at any time.
<BR> If someone showed up with a backhoe tomorrow morning,
in front of your home, and spent the next year fouling the harbour with
silt and mud, would you complain?
<BR> Your paper has shown its preference and bias time
and again throughout this debate. Whenever there was preferentialnews regarding
the golf course, it was given headlines. To justify the position taken
by the directors, it was suggested that a full page ad should be used to
explain their position. Not necessary, the club president gave a speech
complete with pictures at a local chamber and your paper gave them their
full page gratis. Just a week ago, two full pages, one being full colour...again
gratis! This show of support should put even more bucks in the advertising
till, goodwill can represent big dollars.
<BR> We strove to educate your readers with regards to
silt damage, misappropriation of funds, secret meetings and the like through
our letters to the editor. Your paper printed most of them, but never once
did you offer us a full page with bold headlines, gratis, to explain our
concerns regarding environmental protection and corruption. Your paper
and editorial staff went out of its' way to play down these concerns in
1997. An example of this tactic, was by NOT listing the golf course muddle
as one of your top stories in that year. Marg, go back and count the articiles
and letters and you will have to admit that the absence as a top story
was contrived.
<BR> Our local politican was in on this strategy as well.
During the past campaign his brochure took credit for being insrumental
in every project carried out on the South Shore for the past four years.
The golf course was NOT even mentioned. An oversight. I thinf not. A strategy,
yes.
<BR> Play it down and it will go away! When the grass
is green, everything will be rosey....and forgotten? Forgiven, yes....forgotten,
hardly!
<P>Ray Graham, spokesperson
<BR>Friends of Rhodenizer Lake, Oakhill & Dayspring N.S. (902)
543-1025
<BR>
.</HTML>
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