I support any action to prevent this project from going through.
The Trubic/Purkis Family
October 8th, 2008 at 4:49 pm #
All three generations of our family stand in oppostion to this small hydro project. Our thanks to all those who have been working so hard to bring this ill conceived project out into the light of day. We do not feel that thoughtful consideration has been given to the possible and probable long term economic and enviromental effects of this project.
Matthew Sokolowski
October 11th, 2008 at 9:38 pm #
Keep up the good work guys.
The falls are one of the elements that truly make Bala the crown jewel of Muskoka. Why on earth would we destroy them to create such a small hydro generation facility? Is this what the Ontario government has come too? We deserve better, let’s make our voices heard.
PEOPLE POWER speaks volume. We have a right to keep our beautiful BALA FALLS. The photo was spectacular and the TOP STORY on A Channel News on Sunday Night. Our voices DO COUNT. Family values and traditions MUST include preservation of our world reknowned falls.
The Ontario Government CLAIMS they want to promote TOURISM. So why will they ALLOW our main attraction be DESTROYED by GREED.
Generations have been enjoying this breathtaking and tranquil and we MUST ensure that future generations will enjoy our spectacular FALLS.
Keep up the good work.
The Bala Falls is apart of our history. It is the crown jewel. So the question is why and who would want to destory something so beautiful?
I have been going up north to my trailer for 10 summers, and each year we always walk downtown, and walk to the Bala Falls. It was so peaceful and beautiful. And now they are deciding to put the
Power Station in?! The three generations of my family are in devastated. My friends are also in agreement to stop this Power Plant. We believe that we can stop this non-sense, and feel that there has be no thoughtful consideration given to the possible and probably long term economic and environmental effects of this power plant.
We thank the people who have been working oh-so hard to bring this project into the light of day.
We deserve better than that, so let’s make our voices hear.
I drove through Bala Thanksgiving weekend and saw “save the falls” signs in town.
My heart jumped a beat. I wondered what could be at stake. Finding your site all I can say is “they have to be kidding!” The insanity.
Every vist to Bala IS about the Falls in some way.
i cant believe this is even a question! what is bala without the falls?? i spent many summers growing up in bala, my great grandfather built our little house on grey street with his own hands…. almost every fond memory i have of that wonderful place and time is encompassed within those falls, and to see them destroyed would be a real tragedy. my great grandparents and grandparents would be rolling over in their graves to hear such news…. SAVE THE FALLS!!
Andrea Shaughnessy
October 25th, 2008 at 7:41 pm #
Leave our beautiful falls for our kids and their kids to see and play in. Update the existing hydro plant that is already there, how easy is that to figure out.
Norm Miller MPP will present our petition to the legislature.
* PLEASE* Print copies and collect as many signatures as you can.
Mail original signatures to: Norm Miller MPP Room 348, Legislative Building, Queen’s Park Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A8
We need this petition because the environmental assessment process is not the proper forum for presenting more sensible alternatives. The MNR must STOP and rethink the current proposal.
i cannot believe that anyone would say yes to this. it will destroy the one feature that bala or anyone who visits always has memories of. leave the falls alone in their natural state. keep up the fight even when it looks hopeless. politicians are the key to this. they can be made to bend to the wishes of the majority. thanks wm. knight
why would they get rid of a beautiful place like the Bala falls. i have lived here a good chunk of my life and i know that i will miss the place were i spent my childhood.
Every year me and my family go to our trailer near Bala. We have nice long walks to the
Falls and grab some ice-cream.
Leave the Falls alone. I want my kids to see a beautiful town and beautiful the beautiful
Falls.
I am greatly concerned at the channel speed and the amount of flow that Swift wants to attempt to make the generation profitable. We will see a virtual drying up of the North Falls.
Government and progress … amazing how our voices seem to get lost in the wilderness. Nobody listens - the government just keeps going ahead with whatever wild and crazy ideas they want to push through next. We seem to have one level of government after another catering to big business, ramrodding their grand ideas through, with hardly a thought for the impact it has on their constituents or their natural heritage. Our concerns fall on deaf ears. Hopefully someone out there with the power to bring sense and reason to this insanity will stop for a moment and think … really think … about what they are doing. Given this appears to now be a done deal, regardless of any concerns, then I fully endorse the Option 3 scenario in the South Falls. One wonders why this was not considered in the first place. Seems to me to be the best solution for all with least impact to the environment, to the natural flow of Bala Falls, to tourism and the local businesses. Please keep us informed of what we can to try and make our voices heard against obvious single-mindedness by the Province and its Ministries. I know where my votes will go come election time.
How many people have come to see the falls?? To dive at the falls?? Fish at the falls? How many people have brought business to Bala when they come to see the falls??
Now ask yourself, how many people go to a power station to see the water coming out of it?? No one can dive at a hydro station (I have dove here many times and have been diving since 1972) No one is allowed to fish near a hydro station. And how much business will a power station bring to Bala……….uhhhh let me think………………NONE!
If the Premier or any of the high ranking mucky mucks had a cottage near here………it would not even go to an enviro what ever it is they do!!!
Money talks, B*&&#@^t walks. Common dear, lets go for a drive and look at the hydro station in Bala…….NOT!
I was in Bala last week. I love your town and was shocked to see the “Save the Bala Falls” signs. This is a ridiculous proposition that will ruin the picturesque town of Bala, a beautiful place that I have visited since I was a child. Good luck with your campaign.
I feel that the Swift river project is ill-advised. The safety hazards, the loss of scenic landmarks and the destruction of a beautiful scenic asset to the town far outweigh any benefits in additional hydro power. The welfare of the town of Bala and its environs was not taken into consideration in the planning of this project.
Our family has had a cottage near Bala for 50 years. We have had 4 generations enjoy the falls. Is this power station is a done deal? Perhaps the time has come to take legal action, use the environmental laws to our advantage.
This proposed dam is fundamental change to Bala and is being done without sufficient public involvement. The better process (assuming a dam is even required and is deemed beneficial to Bala, rather than outside interests) would be to open the process up to a competition, that results in the most “sympathetic” proposal that achieves the best results from a esthetics perspective, rather than some proposal imposed on the community.
PS: I have pictures of my grandfather standing by the Bala falls in 1908, and the water was flowing the way it has for the last 100 hundred years, before someone had commercial plans to alter it forever.
Please let me know how I can support your opposition to this ill conceived plan.
I have visited this here and stayed many different places in the area and each time I have gone to a different local area areound the Falls and never seen to see the samething twice.Any company that wants to alter this area does not care about anything but the dollar.
I just got home from 2 weeks in Bala. The more time I spent there, the more I fell in love with the place.
I learned about the proposed hydro dam in Bala (that will ruin the most spectacular, fun and scenic part of this small town) from a woman at the native art gallery next to Don’s Bakery.
It sickens me to think that this plan is being considered - I would encourage you to keep up your good fight.
We’ll be back to swim to the so-not-dangerous falls next summer - and every summer we can after that as long as the falls are just as the good Lord made them. I noted that a better water park could not be designed. Bala’s Falls boast rolling precambrian shield rock for climbing, rushing water to stand in at the right edge of the falls and amazing bi-coloured rock (black and orange) that almost looks fake, like candy. Incredible. My 1 year old son had the time of his life picking up gold-flecked stones to chuck back into the water. My 5 and 7 year old nephews also had the best time swimming in the deeper water and exploring the rocks. We spent 3 afternoons at the Falls.
It would be a crying shame to see Bala’s Falls altered in any way.
I am irked as I read. The Bala Falls are spectacular. I read on the placards there that the old Presbyterian church is one of the most sketched churches. There are 3 churches right at the Falls. The Bala Falls are sui generis - I cannot imagine (never mind why) how anyone could even conceive such an idea. This would be an irreversible mistake. Bala’s Falls would be a lot less picturesque, a lot less visited, a lot less loved. And very missed.
The big question that needs to be answered on your website:
WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?
To whom can I write? Do you have a petition to sign? If so, it should be on your website for your guests to sign. I would encourage this to happen asap - you have a few concerned people who took the time out to write on your site - some of us would forward the site to other Bala-lovers so they could also help with your cause.
Hurry! Before it’s too late.
MM, Etobicoke
Scott & Sandy Bakewell
August 5th, 2009 at 7:32 am #
It would be shameful to have such a beautiful landmark destroyed when there appears to be a reasonable alternative. Thank you, “savethebalafalls.com” for having the resolve to fight the destruction of this wonderful resource.
I appreciate this community effort - power is a necessary requirement in our world today and hyrdo power is a clean source to the air but it still kills the visual environment
I agree with this group on its proposal if a station must be build at these falls it is best to locate in the south channel
I recently read a tragic news in newspapper regarding the death of TWO persons who died while rescue a Nine year old girl in Bala Falls.It’s very very sad. I wish we could do something to STOP people before danger zone.
Thank you for taking up this challenge. Myself and my family before me grew up with the falls just a short distance away in Torrance. I disagree with a power station in the first place. Although hydro electric power is considered “green” energy, it still has negative impacts on the environment both upstream and downstream. Even if the area is already damned, an even slower flow of water will impact nutrient levels downstream, and hold heavy chemicals upstream longer. However, if it must be built, then the south falls certainly make more sense than the north falls.
PLEASE DO NOT DEMOLISH THE FALLS. THERE WILL BE ALOT OF UNHAPPY PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY
LEAVE NATURE ALONE. IF THATS THE WAY THE FALLS ARE; THEN LEAVE TEH FALLS ALONE! ITS A HUGE TOURIST ATTRACTION. PEOPLE COME HERE TO SEE THE FALLS NOT THE ELECTRIC POWER STATION. PLEASE LEAVE THE FALLS ALONE. AS ONE PERSON HAD SAID THAT THEY ARE SO BEAUTIFUL. NOT WHAT WILL BE BUILT THERE. BUILD SOMETHING THAT MAKES SENSE AND WORTHWHILE FORTHE WHOLE COMMUNITY TO ENJOY NOT ANOTHER ELECTRIC POWER STATION , WHO NEEDS THAT!
Are you kidding?? Why would they want to destroy this magical place in Bala?? I remember playing in the falls as a small child and I will bring my future child to play there as well. They cannot do this to the most wonderful place on earth! Take a stand, we will be heard!
I was behind a car at the lights and they had a bumper sticker savethebajafalls.ca So I come home and checkout the site. I hope the petition works. The area looks beautiful and I would want to visit the Falls not the power dam….
Bracebridge and Wilsons Falls are now threatened.
see http://www.protecttheroar.ca for (sad) pix.
All towns with waterfalls need to band together.
Our heritage is at stake.
The site should create an on-line petition for submission. It is much easier for the common web browser to put their name to something like this and it can also be very effective way of showing others the support you have behind your cause.
Reading the developers name made my skin crawl. He is doing the same thing here in Thunder Bay with an industrial wind turbine project (up to 52 turbines behind my house) under the various names of Horizon Wind LP, Big Thunder Wind Park LP, Horizon Energy Legacy Group.
The same obfuscation being used in Thunder Bay is being used in Bala. We have been subject to a media campaign, absurd promises of jobs and employment (to a struggling resource based town)
Most developers of power projects would have been talking to residents and trying to come to some kind of reasonable resolution that allows the project to move forward.
This particular developer will not talk. This developer will not mitigate impacts. This developer goes under various names- perhaps to limit its liability or perhaps so it has no baggage from previous public reaction to its other projects
Too bad the Ont Government has given special treatment to supposed ‘green’ energy projects.
Our fight against this developer is ’save the norwesters’
I am generally pro-development but have serious doubts about this project. I understand that Swift River Energy Limited will get about 13 c/kW hr for the power. So they will need to bring the project in close to budget to make a reasonable return. How they perform will be based on how they handled prior similar projects. While the individual members of the company may have done good work, this is no indication of how the company will perform. I believe this is Swift River’s first such project. We should do all we can to avoid being their teachers. Let them prove their worth elsewhere. Schedule and cost are their weak areas, so delaying, and demanding more changes to the project will hit them where they will feel it. As they see capital costs escalating, they will either go away or go back to Mr. McGuinty for more cents/kW hr.
i love the bala falls so much i lived in the area for 4 years and i would hate to see it get “messed up” with what the goverment wants to do with it! i think that the people of Bala and area should have some say of what happends there because they live there and have to deal with it and i’m sure that with Cranberry fest comes if the put the hyrdo electric dam in there not gonna have as many people in Bala cause it’s not the same old Bala there’s history in the town with the Bala falls like :History of the Bala Falls
Burgess Island has provided a portage past the Bala Falls for First Nation travellers, Courier de Bois with fur-laden birch bark canoes, early explorer David Thompson, and more recently summer camps like YMCA Camp Pine Crest and recreational canoe trippers on their own personal voyages of exploration and discovery.
One of the oldest buildings in Bala and the first building on the island was erected by Sam Hurling late in the 19th century. He operated a Boat Livery renting canoes and rowing skiffs and also an Ice Cream Parlour. When surveyors arrived to determine the route for the railway they discovered that Sam’s building was sitting on the railroad right of way. Sam moved the building out of the way to the spot it presently occupies.
The boat business was sold to the following owners over the years: John Hamill, George Adams, W. “Mack” Cunningham, Tom Purkis and Jennifer Purkis. The only other building on the island is the old stone church erected in 1926. Like i said there is so much history in Bala and i don’t want the Bala Falls to be… put it this way my name is Makayla i am 14 years old and i don’t want the Bala falls to be demolished!
The only other building on the island is the old stone church erected in 1926
Would we consider flooding the Sistine Chapel for more hydro power? The Alaska Reserve for more oil? Some things on this earth are too precious to destroy for whatever reason. The Bala Falls is one of them.
Alex Skoric
October 5th, 2008 at 8:42 pm #
Very informative website. Keep up the good work spreading your (and our) message.
Alex
Ashley
October 6th, 2008 at 4:25 pm #
Please don’t demolish the falls. They are so beautiful!
Joe Renetti
October 7th, 2008 at 7:40 pm #
I support any action to prevent this project from going through.
The Trubic/Purkis Family
October 8th, 2008 at 4:49 pm #
All three generations of our family stand in oppostion to this small hydro project. Our thanks to all those who have been working so hard to bring this ill conceived project out into the light of day. We do not feel that thoughtful consideration has been given to the possible and probable long term economic and enviromental effects of this project.
Matthew Sokolowski
October 11th, 2008 at 9:38 pm #
Keep up the good work guys.
The falls are one of the elements that truly make Bala the crown jewel of Muskoka. Why on earth would we destroy them to create such a small hydro generation facility? Is this what the Ontario government has come too? We deserve better, let’s make our voices heard.
Hall/Ellis Family
October 13th, 2008 at 9:27 am #
PEOPLE POWER speaks volume. We have a right to keep our beautiful BALA FALLS. The photo was spectacular and the TOP STORY on A Channel News on Sunday Night. Our voices DO COUNT. Family values and traditions MUST include preservation of our world reknowned falls.
The Ontario Government CLAIMS they want to promote TOURISM. So why will they ALLOW our main attraction be DESTROYED by GREED.
Generations have been enjoying this breathtaking and tranquil and we MUST ensure that future generations will enjoy our spectacular FALLS.
Nicole
October 13th, 2008 at 10:30 am #
Keep up the good work.
The Bala Falls is apart of our history. It is the crown jewel. So the question is why and who would want to destory something so beautiful?
I have been going up north to my trailer for 10 summers, and each year we always walk downtown, and walk to the Bala Falls. It was so peaceful and beautiful. And now they are deciding to put the
Power Station in?! The three generations of my family are in devastated. My friends are also in agreement to stop this Power Plant. We believe that we can stop this non-sense, and feel that there has be no thoughtful consideration given to the possible and probably long term economic and environmental effects of this power plant.
We thank the people who have been working oh-so hard to bring this project into the light of day.
We deserve better than that, so let’s make our voices hear.
S Creighton
October 14th, 2008 at 1:38 pm #
I drove through Bala Thanksgiving weekend and saw “save the falls” signs in town.
My heart jumped a beat. I wondered what could be at stake. Finding your site all I can say is “they have to be kidding!” The insanity.
Every vist to Bala IS about the Falls in some way.
Today is election day. Vote accordingly.
kari panting
October 16th, 2008 at 8:42 pm #
i cant believe this is even a question! what is bala without the falls?? i spent many summers growing up in bala, my great grandfather built our little house on grey street with his own hands…. almost every fond memory i have of that wonderful place and time is encompassed within those falls, and to see them destroyed would be a real tragedy. my great grandparents and grandparents would be rolling over in their graves to hear such news…. SAVE THE FALLS!!
nicky
October 23rd, 2008 at 12:23 pm #
SAVE THE BALA FALLS
Andrea Shaughnessy
October 25th, 2008 at 7:41 pm #
Leave our beautiful falls for our kids and their kids to see and play in. Update the existing hydro plant that is already there, how easy is that to figure out.
Bala Falls
November 30th, 2008 at 11:17 am #
Norm Miller MPP will present our petition to the legislature.
* PLEASE* Print copies and collect as many signatures as you can.
Mail original signatures to: Norm Miller MPP Room 348, Legislative Building, Queen’s Park Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A8
We need this petition because the environmental assessment process is not the proper forum for presenting more sensible alternatives. The MNR must STOP and rethink the current proposal.
Letter - Save the Bala Falls
December 18th, 2008 at 10:32 pm #
[...] Guests [...]
wm. knight
December 23rd, 2008 at 9:02 am #
i cannot believe that anyone would say yes to this. it will destroy the one feature that bala or anyone who visits always has memories of. leave the falls alone in their natural state. keep up the fight even when it looks hopeless. politicians are the key to this. they can be made to bend to the wishes of the majority. thanks wm. knight
KARL
January 3rd, 2009 at 3:16 am #
the more info the better. the pros and cons are sooo even. i feel its time to get off the fence and show support. i am sending a letter soon.
KARL THE POOL GUY
Coop
January 7th, 2009 at 1:30 pm #
why would they get rid of a beautiful place like the Bala falls. i have lived here a good chunk of my life and i know that i will miss the place were i spent my childhood.
Nicole
January 31st, 2009 at 5:21 pm #
Every year me and my family go to our trailer near Bala. We have nice long walks to the
Falls and grab some ice-cream.
Leave the Falls alone. I want my kids to see a beautiful town and beautiful the beautiful
Falls.
Richard Parker
February 10th, 2009 at 4:57 pm #
I am greatly concerned at the channel speed and the amount of flow that Swift wants to attempt to make the generation profitable. We will see a virtual drying up of the North Falls.
GeorgeInMuskoka
February 10th, 2009 at 8:23 pm #
Government and progress … amazing how our voices seem to get lost in the wilderness. Nobody listens - the government just keeps going ahead with whatever wild and crazy ideas they want to push through next. We seem to have one level of government after another catering to big business, ramrodding their grand ideas through, with hardly a thought for the impact it has on their constituents or their natural heritage. Our concerns fall on deaf ears. Hopefully someone out there with the power to bring sense and reason to this insanity will stop for a moment and think … really think … about what they are doing. Given this appears to now be a done deal, regardless of any concerns, then I fully endorse the Option 3 scenario in the South Falls. One wonders why this was not considered in the first place. Seems to me to be the best solution for all with least impact to the environment, to the natural flow of Bala Falls, to tourism and the local businesses. Please keep us informed of what we can to try and make our voices heard against obvious single-mindedness by the Province and its Ministries. I know where my votes will go come election time.
StEvE
April 15th, 2009 at 2:30 pm #
How many people have come to see the falls?? To dive at the falls?? Fish at the falls? How many people have brought business to Bala when they come to see the falls??
Now ask yourself, how many people go to a power station to see the water coming out of it?? No one can dive at a hydro station (I have dove here many times and have been diving since 1972) No one is allowed to fish near a hydro station. And how much business will a power station bring to Bala……….uhhhh let me think………………NONE!
If the Premier or any of the high ranking mucky mucks had a cottage near here………it would not even go to an enviro what ever it is they do!!!
Money talks, B*&&#@^t walks. Common dear, lets go for a drive and look at the hydro station in Bala…….NOT!
unknown cottager
May 24th, 2009 at 7:20 pm #
why would some one do something like this??
it would wreck the falls.
Janice Holden
June 9th, 2009 at 11:02 am #
I was in Bala last week. I love your town and was shocked to see the “Save the Bala Falls” signs. This is a ridiculous proposition that will ruin the picturesque town of Bala, a beautiful place that I have visited since I was a child. Good luck with your campaign.
Janice Holden
Burlington, Ontario
Ethel Cooper
June 10th, 2009 at 12:10 pm #
I feel that the Swift river project is ill-advised. The safety hazards, the loss of scenic landmarks and the destruction of a beautiful scenic asset to the town far outweigh any benefits in additional hydro power. The welfare of the town of Bala and its environs was not taken into consideration in the planning of this project.
Lea
June 18th, 2009 at 10:26 am #
Our family has had a cottage near Bala for 50 years. We have had 4 generations enjoy the falls. Is this power station is a done deal? Perhaps the time has come to take legal action, use the environmental laws to our advantage.
Brent Fullard
July 11th, 2009 at 4:56 pm #
This proposed dam is fundamental change to Bala and is being done without sufficient public involvement. The better process (assuming a dam is even required and is deemed beneficial to Bala, rather than outside interests) would be to open the process up to a competition, that results in the most “sympathetic” proposal that achieves the best results from a esthetics perspective, rather than some proposal imposed on the community.
PS: I have pictures of my grandfather standing by the Bala falls in 1908, and the water was flowing the way it has for the last 100 hundred years, before someone had commercial plans to alter it forever.
Please let me know how I can support your opposition to this ill conceived plan.
Sandra
July 28th, 2009 at 1:21 pm #
I have visited this here and stayed many different places in the area and each time I have gone to a different local area areound the Falls and never seen to see the samething twice.Any company that wants to alter this area does not care about anything but the dollar.
Marissa
July 31st, 2009 at 10:19 pm #
I just got home from 2 weeks in Bala. The more time I spent there, the more I fell in love with the place.
I learned about the proposed hydro dam in Bala (that will ruin the most spectacular, fun and scenic part of this small town) from a woman at the native art gallery next to Don’s Bakery.
It sickens me to think that this plan is being considered - I would encourage you to keep up your good fight.
We’ll be back to swim to the so-not-dangerous falls next summer - and every summer we can after that as long as the falls are just as the good Lord made them. I noted that a better water park could not be designed. Bala’s Falls boast rolling precambrian shield rock for climbing, rushing water to stand in at the right edge of the falls and amazing bi-coloured rock (black and orange) that almost looks fake, like candy. Incredible. My 1 year old son had the time of his life picking up gold-flecked stones to chuck back into the water. My 5 and 7 year old nephews also had the best time swimming in the deeper water and exploring the rocks. We spent 3 afternoons at the Falls.
It would be a crying shame to see Bala’s Falls altered in any way.
Marissa,
Toronto
MM
July 31st, 2009 at 10:37 pm #
I am irked as I read. The Bala Falls are spectacular. I read on the placards there that the old Presbyterian church is one of the most sketched churches. There are 3 churches right at the Falls. The Bala Falls are sui generis - I cannot imagine (never mind why) how anyone could even conceive such an idea. This would be an irreversible mistake. Bala’s Falls would be a lot less picturesque, a lot less visited, a lot less loved. And very missed.
The big question that needs to be answered on your website:
WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?
To whom can I write? Do you have a petition to sign? If so, it should be on your website for your guests to sign. I would encourage this to happen asap - you have a few concerned people who took the time out to write on your site - some of us would forward the site to other Bala-lovers so they could also help with your cause.
Hurry! Before it’s too late.
MM, Etobicoke
Scott & Sandy Bakewell
August 5th, 2009 at 7:32 am #
It would be shameful to have such a beautiful landmark destroyed when there appears to be a reasonable alternative. Thank you, “savethebalafalls.com” for having the resolve to fight the destruction of this wonderful resource.
Kevin Higgs
August 5th, 2009 at 4:56 pm #
I have a cottage nearby in nearby Gravenhurst. Each year we make two or three trips to Bala for the sole purpose of seeing the falls.
We spend the day swimming and usually drop some good money at many of the local shops.
I hate to say it but if were not for the falls I doubt I would be driving to Bala expect to pass through it.
I hope me and my family get the pleasure of visiting these falls for years to come.
Good Luck
sheldon leith
August 7th, 2009 at 11:07 am #
I appreciate this community effort - power is a necessary requirement in our world today and hyrdo power is a clean source to the air but it still kills the visual environment
I agree with this group on its proposal if a station must be build at these falls it is best to locate in the south channel
Sheldon Leith
New Bala resident
Muzaffar Ahmad
August 10th, 2009 at 4:15 pm #
I recently read a tragic news in newspapper regarding the death of TWO persons who died while rescue a Nine year old girl in Bala Falls.It’s very very sad. I wish we could do something to STOP people before danger zone.
M. Kay
August 12th, 2009 at 11:39 am #
Thank you for taking up this challenge. Myself and my family before me grew up with the falls just a short distance away in Torrance. I disagree with a power station in the first place. Although hydro electric power is considered “green” energy, it still has negative impacts on the environment both upstream and downstream. Even if the area is already damned, an even slower flow of water will impact nutrient levels downstream, and hold heavy chemicals upstream longer. However, if it must be built, then the south falls certainly make more sense than the north falls.
VIVIAN MCGEOWN
September 4th, 2009 at 9:02 pm #
PLEASE DO NOT DEMOLISH THE FALLS. THERE WILL BE ALOT OF UNHAPPY PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY
LEAVE NATURE ALONE. IF THATS THE WAY THE FALLS ARE; THEN LEAVE TEH FALLS ALONE! ITS A HUGE TOURIST ATTRACTION. PEOPLE COME HERE TO SEE THE FALLS NOT THE ELECTRIC POWER STATION. PLEASE LEAVE THE FALLS ALONE. AS ONE PERSON HAD SAID THAT THEY ARE SO BEAUTIFUL. NOT WHAT WILL BE BUILT THERE. BUILD SOMETHING THAT MAKES SENSE AND WORTHWHILE FORTHE WHOLE COMMUNITY TO ENJOY NOT ANOTHER ELECTRIC POWER STATION , WHO NEEDS THAT!
“SPIKE”
Miss Jessy
November 18th, 2009 at 12:08 pm #
Are you kidding?? Why would they want to destroy this magical place in Bala?? I remember playing in the falls as a small child and I will bring my future child to play there as well. They cannot do this to the most wonderful place on earth! Take a stand, we will be heard!
Irene Witty
December 31st, 2009 at 3:20 pm #
I was behind a car at the lights and they had a bumper sticker savethebajafalls.ca So I come home and checkout the site. I hope the petition works. The area looks beautiful and I would want to visit the Falls not the power dam….
May 2010 bring about positive results….
Irene Witty
December 31st, 2009 at 3:21 pm #
I am from Trenton….your message is out there!
Sandy Pyper
May 14th, 2010 at 10:25 pm #
Bracebridge and Wilsons Falls are now threatened.
see http://www.protecttheroar.ca for (sad) pix.
All towns with waterfalls need to band together.
Our heritage is at stake.
Mark Munshaw
June 16th, 2010 at 11:16 am #
The site should create an on-line petition for submission. It is much easier for the common web browser to put their name to something like this and it can also be very effective way of showing others the support you have behind your cause.
Save the Bala Falls
June 29th, 2010 at 10:53 pm #
That’s sounds like a good idea. Can you help us with that?
milestone
July 7th, 2010 at 9:50 pm #
Reading the developers name made my skin crawl. He is doing the same thing here in Thunder Bay with an industrial wind turbine project (up to 52 turbines behind my house) under the various names of Horizon Wind LP, Big Thunder Wind Park LP, Horizon Energy Legacy Group.
The same obfuscation being used in Thunder Bay is being used in Bala. We have been subject to a media campaign, absurd promises of jobs and employment (to a struggling resource based town)
Most developers of power projects would have been talking to residents and trying to come to some kind of reasonable resolution that allows the project to move forward.
This particular developer will not talk. This developer will not mitigate impacts. This developer goes under various names- perhaps to limit its liability or perhaps so it has no baggage from previous public reaction to its other projects
Too bad the Ont Government has given special treatment to supposed ‘green’ energy projects.
Our fight against this developer is ’save the norwesters’
Frank Curry
July 13th, 2010 at 1:26 pm #
I am generally pro-development but have serious doubts about this project. I understand that Swift River Energy Limited will get about 13 c/kW hr for the power. So they will need to bring the project in close to budget to make a reasonable return. How they perform will be based on how they handled prior similar projects. While the individual members of the company may have done good work, this is no indication of how the company will perform. I believe this is Swift River’s first such project. We should do all we can to avoid being their teachers. Let them prove their worth elsewhere. Schedule and cost are their weak areas, so delaying, and demanding more changes to the project will hit them where they will feel it. As they see capital costs escalating, they will either go away or go back to Mr. McGuinty for more cents/kW hr.
Bala Lover
July 14th, 2010 at 6:35 pm #
i love the bala falls so much i lived in the area for 4 years and i would hate to see it get “messed up” with what the goverment wants to do with it! i think that the people of Bala and area should have some say of what happends there because they live there and have to deal with it and i’m sure that with Cranberry fest comes if the put the hyrdo electric dam in there not gonna have as many people in Bala cause it’s not the same old Bala there’s history in the town with the Bala falls like :History of the Bala Falls
Burgess Island has provided a portage past the Bala Falls for First Nation travellers, Courier de Bois with fur-laden birch bark canoes, early explorer David Thompson, and more recently summer camps like YMCA Camp Pine Crest and recreational canoe trippers on their own personal voyages of exploration and discovery.
One of the oldest buildings in Bala and the first building on the island was erected by Sam Hurling late in the 19th century. He operated a Boat Livery renting canoes and rowing skiffs and also an Ice Cream Parlour. When surveyors arrived to determine the route for the railway they discovered that Sam’s building was sitting on the railroad right of way. Sam moved the building out of the way to the spot it presently occupies.
The boat business was sold to the following owners over the years: John Hamill, George Adams, W. “Mack” Cunningham, Tom Purkis and Jennifer Purkis. The only other building on the island is the old stone church erected in 1926. Like i said there is so much history in Bala and i don’t want the Bala Falls to be… put it this way my name is Makayla i am 14 years old and i don’t want the Bala falls to be demolished!
The only other building on the island is the old stone church erected in 1926
Bala Lover
July 14th, 2010 at 6:37 pm #
sorry about the little bit at the end i had put that on acedent
Mark Munshaw
July 15th, 2010 at 3:12 pm #
I’m sorry I cant help you create something like that. Maybe somebody else who reads the site can help. Maybe put something up on your main page?
Craig Welbourn
August 22nd, 2010 at 10:04 pm #
Would we consider flooding the Sistine Chapel for more hydro power? The Alaska Reserve for more oil? Some things on this earth are too precious to destroy for whatever reason. The Bala Falls is one of them.
Ten Year Old
August 22nd, 2010 at 11:33 pm #
The first thing I said when I heard: “That’s Stupid”