By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Cottage owners in Rondeau Provincial Park are still waiting to see what the province has to offer when it comes to extending their long-term lease agreements.
That’s the word from David Colby, president of the Rondeau Cottagers Association that represents 270 property owners.
“I’m optimistic we’ll be able to get an agreement we can all embrace,” Colby told The Voice. “We expect something to be coming from the province very soon.”
The statement by the long-time park resident comes on the heels of a 14-year lease agreement offered by the province. The offer would see current leases extended to Dec. 31, 2038. It was posted on the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO) in December.
However, officials say there are details that need to be worked out.
According to Colby, some cottage owners are “disappointed” and “unhappy” with what the province has put forward, but he didn’t want to delve into details, saying the group is positive an agreement can be worked out.
Under the current rules, people own the buildings but not the land on which they are located.
Within Ontario, Rondeau isn’t the only provincial park that’s home to private cottages as Algonquin, Sandbanks and Long Point also contain private dwellings.
The fact that cottagers are allowed to remain in the park has been an ongoing bone of contention between environmentalists and property owners. In 2017, a 50-year lease agreement between owners and the government expired, however that deal was extended for another two years until 2019.
A proposal by the Municipality of Chatham-Kent to act as a purchasing agent for the Rondeau Cottagers Association was nixed in 2022. Under that plan, a portion of the park would have been privatized. Chatham-Kent had offered to purchase 279 lots with extended leases for $29.2 million and sell them back to the cottagers while privatizing a portion of the park.
A petition opposing C-K’s involvement in the sale started by Shrewsbury resident Ken Bell garnered some 12,000 signatures.
A 30-day public consultation regarding Rondeau cottage leases took place on the ERO last fall. It generated nearly 1,000 comments, covering everything from conservation to heritage designations to the need for increased controls to preserve the park’s ecology.
Points in favour of extending the leases included the importance of preserving heritage structures; protection of personal investment; commitment by cottagers to preserve the park’s ecology and the positive impact of cottagers on the local economy.
Those who oppose the private use of public park land emphasized negative impacts of cottagers on park ecology and the use of public money to maintain the park thereby benefitting private land owners.
