Community members gather to envision the best future for Lemoine Point Farm
January 11, 2024
Story by Christena Lawrie, CFRC's Broadcast Journalist, for the Local Journalism Initiative.
On Tuesday, January 9, community members gathered at Centre 70 to brainstorm ideas for the future of Lemoine Point Farm.
The meeting was announced last week by Save Lemoine Point Farm, a group that came together after the passing of previous owner Mary Fraser in 2022. The group believes that it is important to conserve this farmland and waterfront, and invited community members to attend the meeting and imagine the best future for the farm.
The 75 available spots were quickly reserved, and many more people wishing to attend were on the waitlist. Despite inclement weather conditions, over 60 people attended the meeting.
The meeting included an overview of the farm property and its history, as well as current zoning and land restrictions, before the group brainstormed and presented ideas.
“The audience consisted of younger to older people, people with lots of government experience, people with farming experience, Indigenous experience as well. The variety of ideas was exceptional,” says Jim Biagi, member of Save Lemoine Point Farm, “And even though the Save Lemoine Point Farm group has been together and meeting since May of 2022, essentially, there were new ideas that we hadn't even thought of, which was really exciting.”
Some of the ideas presented included turning the farm into a teaching farm for students and local residents, generating local food supply, Indigenous arts and culture uses, extending the conservation area just North of it to include the farmland, and seeking national park status.
Save Lemoine Point Farm plans to release a summary of the meeting. Due to the public interest generated and passion shown at the meeting, the group is considering hosting another larger event like this in the future.