An article in the Wednesday January 7th edition of the Parry Sound North Star spoke about the nursing shortage at the West Parry Sound Health Centre. It is a well-known fact that since the hospital moved to its new location in 2004 that staffing has been a huge issue. One of the biggest issues that the hospital faces is the lack of affordable housing available in the area, especially in the town itself.
Some years ago when I was President of the Parry Sound Real Estate Board, I spoke to the media in regards to the housing situation in the area , and was quoted that, “we need to look at hundreds of units within two to five years,”
That was five years ago, and we have made little progress towards fulfilling that goal.
While the town acknowledges that fact that the housing situation has been critical for several years, it has yet to take a leadership role or come up with an effective plan to tackle the problem. There are several parcels of public land scattered throughout the town that could easily accommodate housing: single family homes, condominiums and rental units. One of these parcels was the subject of negotiations between the town and a developer looking to purchase the land to build an apartment unit. After originally voting in favour to sell the property, the town voted down the actual bylaw which would have affected the sale, after a local ratepayer committee lobbied council to turn down the sale.
Despite an overall downturn in the local real estate market, sales in the town of Parry Sound set a record for the amount of unit sales in 2008. While I suspect the market won’t be as active this year, I still have many clients looking for housing, especially in the lower price ranges and for condominium units for our growing senior population.
Without a comprehensive, forward-thinking plan for housing in Parry Sound, it is difficult to imagine a future where we see the chronic housing shortage alleviated. My challenge to Council is not to only acknowledge the problem exists, but to do something about it. They certainly have a power to do it, and only lack the political will.
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