Rondeau Provincial Park
Rondeau Provincial Park, located in southwestern Ontario, Canada is the second oldest provincial park having been established with an order in council on 8 September 1894.[1] The park is located on an 8 km long crescentic sand spit extending into Lake Erie. There are only two sand spits like this one in all of North America, one in Rondeau and one in Florida. Rondeau was established in 1894 as a response to demand for cottaging opportunities by residents of nearby Chatham. It is the second-oldest provincial park in Ontario (after Algonquin Provincial Park). It is recognized as the largest tourist destination in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent. Rondeau is also home to the largest area of Carolinian forest in Canada, a long sand beach, a large marsh, approximately half of Rondeau Bay, campgrounds and a heritage cottage community. Most of the park is natural environment; the cottage community takes up less than 1% of the Park area and is practically invisible from the air. The name of the park comes from the French words "ronde eau" or "round water" which describes the shape of the harbour sheltered by the peninsula.
The park is an important stopover for birds during migration and has been identified as a Canadian Important Bird Area. Its Carolinian woods also provide nesting habitat for the Prothonotary Warbler and many other Carolinian species. Limited hunting of White-tailed Deer has been permitted within the park to control deer numbers because these animals no longer have any natural predators, and pose a threat to the park's forested areas. Waterfowl hunting is permitted in the park area in the fall.
In the Ontario Parks system, only Rondeau and Algonquin continue the presence of privately owned cottages on leased land. Rondeau is unique in that Section 5b of the 1894 Rondeau Park Act states that Rondeau Park was created specifically to provide cottaging opportunities. Forty cottage lots were surveyed at the outset. Several other provincial parks (Kawartha Highlands, Killarney, Presqu'ile) have privately owned cottages within their boundaries on lots deeded to the cottage owners. Other provincial parks have cottages that are owned by the Ministry of Natural Resources and rented (Awenda, Balsam lake, Bon Echo, Bonnechere, Sandbanks, Sleeping Giant and Sturgeon Bay).
Rondeau Yacht Club
The Rondeau Yacht Club was founded in 1932. In 2007 as part of the club's 75th anniversary celebrations, Martha Crow Ciupa & Bob Ciupa wrote 'Rondeau Yacht Club : the first 75 years, 1932 to 2007'.[2] Today, Rondeau Yacht Club operates as a Yacht Club and as a Community Centre.
Cottages
There are 283 family cottages remaining in Rondeau Park, as well as two churches. The oldest cottages were built over 100 years ago; most were built in the 1920s. The cottage community has been assessed as a cultural heritage landscape of provincial significance. The MNR Statement of Philosophy of Integrated Resource Management (Feb.1985) contained the following statement "Multiple Use Policy is not consistent with a province-wide policy of restricting cottage leases in provincial parks. Instead, planning policy in specific parks should be based on the values, traditions and classification of each park." Rondeau is a Natural Environment class park, but the cottages are recognized in the official Park Plan as cultural heritage values. This requires that the cottages be protected under the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act, the class Environmental Assessment for parks and the Ontario Heritage Act. Nevertheless, all current private leases expire on December 31, 2017, at which time all 283 cottages and the Yacht Club are to be demolished at the owners' expense. The Heritage Board of Chatham-Kent has expressed concern over the possible loss of the cottage community.
The Rondeau Cottagers Association and the Municipality of Chatham-Kent (with the support of Chatham-Kent Essex Conservative MPP Rick Nicholls) have been lobbying the provincial government to have the leases extended. On October 1, 2010 Ontario's then Minister of Natural Resources, the Hon. Linda Jeffrey, telephoned the President of the Rondeau Cottagers Association and informed him that the Cabinet had voted to extend cottage leases for 21 more years, from 2017 to 2038, but the offer was subsequently characterized by MNR officials as a "cottage phase out policy".
- No lease transfers are allowed except to a spouse on the death of the leaseholder (cottages cannot be willed to children or grandchildren);
- The leaseholders would be required to remove buildings and structures and to restore lots to a safe and clean condition at their own expense upon termination of leases, or to be paid by their Estate after their death;
- The Crown would retain the sole right to purchase the lease on a willing seller/willing buyer basis;
- Unspecified "additional conditions" that the Ministry considers to be necessary or appropriate to restore the ecological integrity of the park and protect species at risk and their habitat (e.g., native species planting, restricting access to sensitive areas).
- This offer was unpalatable to all.