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PAGE PAGE May 28, 2026 Thursday, Wilmot-Tavistock Gazette BRAVES AWARDS BANQUET NEW MEN'S CLUB DRIVEWAYThe
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The Wilmot-Tavistock Gazette Serving New Hamburg, Tavistock, Baden, Wellesley, New Dundee, St. Agatha, Shakespeare, Petersburg, Hickson, Punkeydoodle’s Corner and area
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Wilmot Township unveils draft official plan LEE GRIFFI
Gazette Reporter
(PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SHOW US YOUR WILMOT FACEBOOK PAGE)
Tony Zurell shared this fantastic photo of a heron wading through the water and hunting for food at the New Hamburg dam to the Show Us Your Wilmot Facebook page on May 22. He also included an incredible video of the bird catching a fish.
Wilmot residents finally get a water win Salonen’s motion to form a well-interference committee moving forward LEE GRIFFI Gazette Reporter
It will take some time, but staff at the Region of Waterloo will bring a report back to council on what a well-interference committee could look like. Well interference is the term used when private wells of people living in rural
areas dry up or become disrupted because of actions taken by others, and is the accusation being made by 31 households in Wilmot Township in recent months. Mayor Natasha Salonen brought the motion forward, and it was passed unanimously. She said despite all of the talk at staff and council levels, the region really isn’t any closer to finding a solution to its
water woes. “A lot of actions, words and meetings have happened, but apart from materially taking the extra water from Wilmot, nothing else has advanced the water capacity problem at this point,” she said. When it comes to the well-interference complaints by Wilmot residents, Salonen
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The first version of the township’s new official plan was presented to councillors at a special meeting last week to mixed reaction. The 215-page document sets out the township’s long-term growth and land-use management policies to the year 2051, with a core focus on building complete communities. It includes a range and mix of housing, employment opportunities, schools, recreational amenities, options for servicing, roads and active transportation while protecting natural heritage features and farmland. Salonen said the township is on the right track. “Only four residents out of about 22,000 came out and delegated and beyond that I have received under 50 direct correspondences to myself about it. I would say a lot of residents, assuming they are informed, are okay with where it is going.” She added there is room for improvement, taking into consideration the desires and hopes of the community and the expectations and pressures from the provincial government. “At the end of the day, they are the ones who approve how we are growing and approve our official plan. I think it’s a fine balance of multiple interest groups’ ideas along with what’s best planning practice and what’s falling in Continued on page 3
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