Scugog Mayor Wilma Wotten is responding to a petition urging the township to keep the Port Perry Fairgrounds public.
The township is in the early stages of looking at possible future uses for the 23 acres.
The Port Perry Agricultural Society currently leases the land from the township and their lease is up in June of next year. Back in April, they asked council to renew their lease early, but councillors decided in July to defer the decision.
Instead, council will be doing a “visioning exercise” for the lands before making a final decision about the lease renewal.
Wotten feels like the petition is “premature.”
“I’m sure that the petitioners feel that they are being proactive and in a sense they are, to get their voice out there – but they’re just saying ‘save the fairgrounds,” said Wotten. “They’re not giving us any ideas of what they envision for the fairgrounds.”
Petitioners and community members have raised concerns that the land could be sold off and privatized, but Wotten says that’s not necessarily the case.
“There hasn’t been conversation for that at this point,” explained Wotten. “We just thought it was an opportune time to start looking at what that 23 acres could actually look like in the future.”
The mayor says it could be anything from a community centre, to a field house, a community garden, homes or even a swimming pool.
She added it’s not up to her what could possibly be on the lands in the future.
“It is what our community wants and that’s why we’re going through this process,” she said. “I think it’s very valuable land. I think it’s very under utilized.”
She says the fairgrounds are only used three days a year and the society only pays $2 a year for the lease.
She says right now, the township has put out a Request for Proposals so they can hire a consultant to conduct the visioning exercise, which will see them ask the community about their thoughts about the area.
“They [the consultant] will take those ideas and they will comprise… different scenarios on what the public has said what they would like to envision,” said Wotten. “Then the public will be asked to come back and take a look at those and we’ll move from there.”
The mayor also pointed out the current council has committed to keep the Port Perry Fair around, even if the fairgrounds were sold.
“Our goal is certainly to keep the fair alive,” she said.
She went on to explain there will be a Port Perry Fair this year and next year and there is an option in the agricultural society’s lease to extend it on a month-to-month basis if council is still in the midst of deciding whether or not to extend it.
Wotten also stressed there needs to be more housing in Scugog in general.
“The reality is we also need housing and we need to have assessment growth,” said Wotten. “So, you know, as a council we have to weigh all these things. Do I support housing? Absolutely. I’ve been advocating for housing since 2010. On that property? Maybe not, but we have to have housing as well. People have to understand that.”
When asked about what she’s been hearing from the community so far, the mayor said it’s been mixed opinions.
“Quite frankly I’ve [heard] a mix of ideas… the field house, the gardens and so on and so forth,” she said. “I’ve also had people say ‘sell it, without a doubt sell it.'”
When Wotten was asked if the fairgrounds will remain if that is the consensus of the community she said “that’s my expectation from council.”
A timeline released by the township shows the Port Perry Fair will go ahead this year and in September, council will select the winning consultant to conduct the visioning exercise.
The consultant’s final report is expected in June 2026 and from there, council will determine the next steps with the Port Perry Agricultural Society’s lease.
To sign the petition, click here.
To find out more information about the Port Perry Fairgrounds, click here.
Photo courtesy of Port Perry Fair on Facebook
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