Build Better
This is a listing of controversial building projects in Stratford. We hope to use these pages to help neighbours keep in touch with each other and learn more about the issues.
If you have information that belongs here, send it to contact@getconcernedstratford.org.
More on the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project
Two weeks ago we wrote our Mayor and councillors to learn more about the Cordelia BESS battery storage project, which received official support from the City in December. The eight questions in that letter dealt with safety, protocol, proper financial controls, and...
Open Letter to Council on new battery project
See transcript of the December 8 meeting here Dear Mayor Ritsma and Councillors, I am writing you about the December 8 meeting of Council, in which a letter of support was approved for a battery storage system at 465 Wright Boulevard, composed of up to 50...
Forum on Democracy and the Environment: project for the 2026 election
Get Concerned Stratford has made the decision to hold an all-candidates meeting for the 2026 municipal election, and we are counting on you to help us write the discussion questions.This is a time when things are changing...
Grand Trunk: the building holds the solution
Architect to offer “Christmas Present” to City HallStratford’s Grand Trunk site is hard to miss. It’s an 18-acre property in the downtown core, once the home of the Grand Trunk Railway Locomotive Repair Shops. It is a source of pride, featuring largely in the City’s...
Opinion: Let’s do the math on affordable/attainable housing
The problem with affordable housing is that nobody seems to know what it is. I’m not saying the City hasn’t been working on housing. Look at the Attainable Housing Project Summary Report, published in May of 2023. That took some time to be acted on, but it led to the...
OPINION: Councillor Wordofa’s proposal for a homeless shelter
Link to meeting video & minutes Sometimes I complain about Council, but last week they really earned their salary: the meeting lasted nearly five hours. So much talking. Sitting in the audience, it was pretty easy to imagine being in a homeless shelter entrance,...
Franz Hartman speaks at another successful Climate Momentum mixer
I apologize for not presenting all the questions and comments at the end of Wednesday's Climate Momentum talk posted below. There were female speakers, but unfortunately they were at the back, and I couldn't capture their questions from my position at the front....
Sebringville: we’re all in this together
Sebringville is threatened with a development that could double its size. What does that mean for Stratford?The proposed Sebringville development could add over 300 apartments to this small hamlet, and many people aren't happy about it. The big crowd at Sunday's...
We have decided to take legal action
You no doubt remember the huge kerfuffle last spring over our alleged violation of the City’s new Respectful Workplace Policy. Our spokesperson, Mike Sullivan, was denied access to City buildings for three months for his deputations on February 26, 2024 to Council,...
Letter from a reader: TEDx Stratford
Housing is for babies, Mike Moffatt.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utyKkGm7ynM A fix for our Broken Cities, Anneke Smit.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I8Jr9dIBjw Cities - The Habitat of the Human Spirit, Paul...