IN THE NEWS
‘Fireworks wars’ caught on tape in north Ajax
An Ajax councillor is raising the alarm about “fireworks wars” taking place in a north Ajax community.
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Ward 2 Coun. Nancy Henry has been receiving complaints that on Mondays of long weekends — and any day when fireworks are legal in the town, particularly in the summer — hundreds of individuals, who appear to mostly be teenagers, allegedly meet at the Nottingham Market Shopping Mall — known to many as the ‘No Frills Plaza’ at Westney Road North and Williamson Drive West. She was told that there, the participants, dressed in black, donning backpacks and medical masks, proceed to shoot fireworks at one another.
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“We have a large group of parents in the Nottingham area that want this to stop,” she said in an interview. “We know that Nottingham families are not feeling safe.”
Hotel tax in effect in Ajax; council also approves short-term rentals like Airbnb
Ward 2 Local Coun. Nancy Henry had originally been against them, but chose to support the idea, saying that “if we ban them, they’re still going to happen, we’re not going to be able to regulate them and we won’t make any money from it.”
The town will receive 50 per cent of the MAT revenue — the other half goes to a tourism entity.
The town estimates the new tax will bring in $233,500 in a 12-month period based on 50 per cent occupancy. If the occupancy is 75 per cent, it expects to make $355,500.
The town expects the new hotel to collect an additional $195,000 to $296,000, and 50 per cent will go to the town.
Ajax considers changes to seniors snow removal program
“We have a large senior community in Ajax,” said Ward 2 local councillor Nancy Henry at the May 8 general government committee meeting.
“We’ve set something up here for 20 years. To try to take that away now, there’s going to be some uproar on that. That is not going to go over easily.”
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Henry successfully introduced a motion that staff consult the appropriate committees and current users, before coming forward with a plan. She also asked that staff consult other municipalities about how they keep their costs down.
“Knowing how it destroys families and hearing about it happening in today’s society even more so than it did then,” she felt it necessary to push on the issue.
“I think municipalities standing together strong, passing this will get the funding needed to help all these places to have the staff, and what they need to help women get back into society, strong and able to be on their own and hopefully break free from their abuser,” Henry says.
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Henry’s motion was passed by Ajax council, and similar motions have been passed in Durham Region and Whitby — both brought forward by women. Henry says a similar motion is coming before Pickering council.
“It’s about time that women join together, and stand up for each other and say ‘enough,’” she says.
The motion also called on the Region of Durham to declare an IPV epidemic and integrate IPV into the region’s Community Safety and Well-Being Plan.
Ajax council voted in favour of a motion brought forward by Councillors Henry & Lee, naming a new park after former MPP Joe Dickson.
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It will be located at the northwest corner of Ainley Road and Turnerbury Avenue in the Audley Road and Kerrison Drive East area.
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It will include a junior and senior playground, a gazebo, a fenced leash-free area, a basketball court, fitness equipment, paved walkways, pedestrian season and other public amenities.
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It’s set to open in the summer and will be named Joe Dickson Park.
“Literally every Ward 2 resident I spoke to at the doors had expressed safety as being their main concern. They were most alarmed by an apparent increase in crime in Ajax, carjackings, speeding, drug houses. Other concerns were dark, unlit town parking lots and traffic safety,” she said.
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Other issues she pointed to include parking, helping small businesses and the growing population of people who are unsheltered, or homeless.