After hearing from dozens of residents, Woolwich councillors decided to backtrack on plans to build a new Catholic school in Breslau Memorial Park.
The Waterloo Catholic District School Board had offered the township $1.75 million in exchange for four acres of the 19 acres of parkland in the centre of the community.
A school and library would then be built on the school board’s portion of the park.
The offer prompted an outcry from people living in homes near the park, who said they were concerned about the loss of parkland.
Tuesday night, more than 40 people registered to speak about the issue at a public meeting. Nearly all of them were opposed to the sale.
“This is going to be our community park for years and years and years – as long as people are living in Breslau,” Grace Sudden told CTV News.
“We do not believe that we should put another activity into it, except the activities that come with recreation and leisure.”
Dan Horgan was one of the few to speak in favour of selling the parkland, saying not doing so could push the timetable of a new school back by five years or more.
“We’re supposed to be a community of like-minded people who are interested in this community growing,” he said.
Councillors ended up split on the issue, voting 3-3 on the matter of selling the parkland. The tie vote means the sale will not go ahead, and the school will not be built.
Breslau is expected to get a Catholic elementary school regardless, as trustees voted in 2013 to close St. Boniface Catholic Elementary School in Maryhill and replace it with a new facility in Breslau.
