Burlington forging ahead on acquisition of Robert Bateman High School land

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Published June 6, 2022 at 11:03 am

parking at Bateman school residents concerns about greenspace
An aerial view of the Robert Bateman High School site the City of Burlington has acquired.

Burlington councillors continue to walk a tightrope regarding a potential purchase of the Robert Bateman High School site.

They’re carefully balancing sharing as much information as they can with the public, as they seek their input, while not being able to give full details about financial negotiations with the Halton District School Board.

The conundrum came to light when the first survey seeking public feedback was posted to the City website May 18. It was pulled a day later after it was realized there simply wasn’t enough information being provided to the public for informed feedback.

A public meeting was scheduled for later in the month that saw nearly 80 members of the public attend and 38 questions being answered.

The land swap portion the negotiations would see the Halton board receive around five acres of land attached to Central High School, where the football field/track is currently located.

The swap would offset the cash cost of acquiring the Bateman land, located on New St., west of Appleby Line. No details of the cost of the acquisition have been made public.

If the deal goes through, as it’s expected to, the City will use a large portion of the land for a new recreation facility. Other parts of it will be leased to the Halton school board and Brock University for education purposes.

The issue is expected to come back before city council later in June after an update at today’s (Monday, June 6) committee meeting.

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