I’ve spent some time reading through both the consultant’s final report and the staff report that will be considered by Council on Monday. I know many residents have been following this discussion closely, so I wanted to summarize what’s actually in the reports.
What did the public consultation show?
According to the consultant, there were more than 1,400 community interactions through pop-up events, community conversations, questionnaires, online participation, workshops, open houses, youth and senior engagement activities, stakeholder discussions, and community connector meetings.
From that feedback, six community pillars were identified:
- Strengthen community connections by creating spaces that bring people together for recreation, events, and everyday use.
- Honour the Fairgrounds’ agricultural heritage and local traditions while adapting to meet the needs of future generations.
- Protect and enhance open, accessible green space that remains welcoming, connected to nature, and easier for everyone to enjoy.
- Design flexible, shared spaces that can support a variety of activities, users, and partnerships throughout the year.
- Ensure responsible long-term stewardship through practical improvements, partnerships, sustainable management, and careful planning.
The consultant also identified several guiding qualities residents wanted the site to support:
- Gathering through recreation, learning, markets, performances, events, and informal social interaction.
- Growing through environmental stewardship, agricultural education, gardens, biodiversity, tree planting, pollinator habitats, and nature experiences.
- Moving with accessible pathways, better entrances, wayfinding, seating, shade, and improved circulation.
- Playing through active living, recreation, exploration, and outdoor enjoyment.
- Resting with shaded seating areas, picnic spaces, gardens, and quiet places for seniors, caregivers, families, visitors, and residents.
- Celebrating local agricultural roots, traditions, community events, storytelling, and public art.
- Adapting by creating flexible spaces that can evolve over time through phased implementation.
Which concept did residents support?
The answer is… none of them outright.
The consultant found:
- 32% most closely supported Concept 1A, emphasizing practical improvements that respect the Fairgrounds’ existing role.
- 28% said no single concept met their vision and instead wanted elements combined from multiple concepts, particularly maintaining Fair and open space functions while adding better pathways, more trees and shade, gathering spaces, and carefully selected new facilities.
- 24% preferred Concept 1C, supporting balanced improvements while cautioning against overbuilding or limiting flexibility for the annual Fair.
- 19% preferred Concept 1B because it focused on improving movement through the site without significant development and at a lower cost.
- 18% supported Concept 2, seeing opportunities for more significant community-serving uses over time. However, this option also generated some of the strongest concerns about housing, privatization, loss of open space, traffic, parking, and overdevelopment.
The consultant’s overall conclusion was that residents value the Fairgrounds as a shared public asset that combines open space, heritage, recreation, community gathering, and every day public use.
Importantly, there was no clear winning concept.
Instead, the consultant recommends a blended vision that protects the site’s identity while introducing practical, phased improvements focused on public access, flexible recreation, gathering spaces, greening, walkability, community identity, and long-term stewardship.
What is staff recommending?
Staff are asking Council to:
- Endorse the overall vision in principle.
- Direct staff to prepare an Implementation Plan.
- Bring that Implementation Plan back to Council in 2027 for approval.
- End the Port Perry Agricultural Society’s (PPAS) month-to-month lease, with reasonable notice, and replace it beginning in 2027 with a no-cost special event permit so the annual Fair can continue in areas determined by the Township pursuant to the Implementation Plan.
- Promote the property for additional community use by other organizations once the Township regains possession.
- Assist the PPAS in finding another suitable location in Port Perry if it decides to relocate.
What would the proposed vision look like?
The proposal divides the property into three zones.
Zone 1 would remain a flexible open event space capable of hosting the annual Fair, festivals, recreational activities, trails, and community events such as Touch a Truck or the Terry Fox Run. It could include accessible washrooms and a small field house. Zone 3 could also add additional space to temporarily support a one-weekend event such as the Fair, if needed.
Zone 2 would become the primary community activation area for recreation, play, and gathering. It has also been identified as the potential location for future development because it is fully serviced, close to existing commercial uses, and located at the prominent Reach Street and Old Simcoe Road intersection. The report suggests this area could accommodate seniors’ residential or mixed-use development integrated with the park. The chain-link fence would be removed to better connect the neighbourhood, the new Regional multi-use trail, the park, and any future residences into one cohesive public space.
Zone 3 would focus on neighbourhood uses such as community gardens, a gazebo, picnic areas, pickleball courts, basketball courts, and winter amenities including a small toboggan hill and an accessible skating track.
The report notes that the Township would retain control over what is ultimately developed through its Official Plan and Zoning By-law approval processes. It also states the Township could partner with a developer to ensure any future development is integrated with the balance of the property in a cohesive way.
How would it be funded?
Staff propose funding the improvements through:
- the sale of approximately four acres of the property,
- special event fee revenue, and
- grant funding.
The goal is to minimize impacts on the tax base. Revenue from any land sale and grants would be placed into a dedicated reserve fund and used only for capital improvements to the Fairgrounds.
The report also states that the Township needs possession of the property to control implementation of what is expected to be a 5-10 year vision.
Staff note that the PPAS’s proposed Agri-Park concept is primarily focused on agricultural uses and buildings and does not fully reflect the broader mix of recreational spaces and community uses that residents identified during the visioning exercise.
What happens Monday?
Council is not required to approve staff’s recommendations.
Council could:
- endorse the vision and direct staff to proceed with an Implementation Plan;
- receive the report for information only, in which case the visioning exercise would effectively be shelved until a future Council revisits it and the current month-to-month lease with the PPAS would continue; or
- provide different or additional principles to guide staff in developing an Implementation Plan, provided those directions remain consistent with the public consultation results.