Consultation for Museum Square Benches Now Open

Woodstock – Woodstock City Council is considering reinstating the benches in Museum Square and throughout the downtown and is seeking input from stakeholders and the public to ensure their decision reflects the interests of the community.

“My fellow members of council and I have had discussions with a lot of people since this issue was raised in November,” said Mayor Jerry Acchione. “It’s clear there are a lot of strong opinions on this topic and we felt it was best to undertake a formal consultation process that gave people a chance to be heard.”  

An online survey is now available at www.letstalkwoodstock.ca. Those interested are asked to complete the survey by Jan. 31. Staff will compile the feedback received to be included in a report to Council at their Feb. 16 meeting. As always, the public is invited to attend the Council meeting either in person at City Hall or online via the City’s You Tube page to hear the discussion. Those interested are also welcome to submit a delegation request form if they wanted to appear before council on this matter. The form is available at www.cityofwoodstock.ca/delegation and is due by 2 p.m. on the Tuesday before the meeting.

Background

In late 2021, the benches and picnic tables in Museum Square and along Dundas Street were removed in response to concerns about incidents of vandalism and drug use throughout the downtown. Council voted in favour of removing the benches in Museum Square as a way to support other actions being implemented to address these concerns.

Some of those actions included:

• Additional security and police patrols within the downtown
• Expansion of emergency shelter services
• Adding a dedicated downtown bylaw officer
• Ongoing work with community partners to adjust programming and services to mitigate concerns

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