THE SHEFFORD TOWNSHIP CITIZEN'S GUIDE
A Balance between Personal Freedom
and the Well-Being of the Community.
The Shefford Township Citizen's Guide
| I am responsible for my environment: |
- I protect trees and plant life;
- I minimize the urban development of my property (i.e. lawns, tree felling, paving, etc.);
- I respect speed limits;
- I intervene when visitors disrupt our peace and quiet;
- I walk my dog on a leash and clean up after it.
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| I respect my neighbours: |
- I keep noise to a minimum (mechanical, music, conversation);
- I only light the entrance to my property when necessary (eg. I turn my outdoor lights off at night);
- I participate in the neighbourhood watch;
- I consult the municipality before making changes on my property (eg. trees, visual impact, surface runoff);
- I let my neighbours know when I plan to hold a gathering outdoors;
- When I build a fire, I make sure the smoke will not inconvenience anyone;
- I avoid clutter of any kind on my property (eg. visual impact and burglary risk);
- I make sure people visiting me or working on my property are aware of these guidelines;
- If a neighbour does not respect me, I take it upon myself to talk things over with him politely.
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| I participate actively within the community: |
- I attend Municipal Council meetings and express my opinion;
- I participate in local and regional activities;
- I take responsibility for my private and public space;
- I make sure I am familiar with municipal bylaws and I respect them.
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This is how I live in harmony
with nature and my neighbours.
Social Ethics in Shefford: Humanity in Harmony with Nature, a Special Place Worth Protecting.
| Context |
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In recent years, rapid growth in residential construction and the importance of initiating residents to the guiding principles of the Shefford Township has led a group of citizens, who are concerned about their quality of life and committed to protecting the well-being of their community, to reflect and define a common vision: to preserve our natural heritage, our peace and tranquility, and the warmth of our community in our daily lives.
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| Guiding principles: |
- Appreciate the tremendous biodiversity of the Shefford Township. The integrity of its unique ecosystems must be preserved;
- Avoid unnecessary cutting of healthy mature trees. Tree cutting affects the public good: specifically the water table, surface runoff, and it has a distressing visual impact;
- Protect plant life, especially native plants. Why replace them with grass that has to be maintained artificially (eg. mowing, which is noisy and causes pollution)?;
- Preserve natural waterways, which have a direct impact on many plant and wildlife ecosystems;
- Protect Mt. Shefford and the diversity of its wildlife, as well as its rare plants (i.e. plants unique to the Monteregian Hills);
- Preserve the water table by eliminating phosphates in our soaps, detergents, and the wastewater when we empty our swimming pools. Opt for natural organic compost;
- Minimize light pollution. Avoid blinding light sources. Use a motion detector to lower your energy costs, and so you can enjoy the stars at night;
- Respect your neighbours and maintain a cordial relationship with them. Lighting, noise and smoke from your property directly affects everyone living nearby;
- Realize that, viewed as a whole, the properties in a neighbourhood are what create the near horizon, forming a common landscape that we want to keep as natural and harmonious as possible;
- Decrease hunting to eliminate the risk of accidents.
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Social Ethics Committee:
| Françoise Gariépy |
Claude Prévost |
| André Laperrière |
André Roy |
| Andrée Nault |
Anny Schneider |
| André Pontbriand |
Jean-Paul Vermette |
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