Banners creating controversy and confusion in Dunnville

To The Haldimand Press

DUNNVILLE—There can be no question of the passion of Dunnville volunteers to create a beautiful and vibrant community, but one issue has generated controversy for the past two years: decorative banners on downtown street poles.

At the heart of the confusion is who has permission to install the banners and how do community groups work together to coordinate the installation.

“For 15 years, Haldimand County has partnered with groups to beautify the community through a number of grant and approval processes, including the Community Partnership Program (CPP),” says Ward 6 Councillor Bernie Corbett.

“Until two years ago, everything worked smoothly and collaboratively; unfortunately, that changed with the installation of banners by one individual, working on their own and without County approval,” continued Corbett. “Since then, the community has been in an uproar about which groups and which banners should be allowed to be installed, with little regard for the processes that have been in place – and worked well – for many years.”