Dear Neighbours,

With December upon us and year’s end fast approaching, I wanted to share a roundup of some of the work in the Gibson and Landsdale neighbourhoods that I have had the honour of advancing as your Ward 3 City Councillor.

Housing 

  • Set the target of renovating and repairing 476 City Housing Hamilton (CHH) units that were vacant due to their state of repair. 187 have been completed and are now occupied, with the remainder on track to be completed by a target date of December 2024.
  • Transformed a former City parking lot into 24 supportive housing units as part of the CHH new modular housing build at 257 King William St., to be occupied in 2024.
  • Supported the allocations of $2.5 million as a conditional grant to Indwell for 23 new units for Acorn Flats at The Oaks.
  • Worked with the YWCA towards a 90-unit supportive housing project dedicated to supporting women and gender diverse Hamiltonians fleeing violence in Ward 3.
  • Championed a suite of new bylaws with ACORN Hamilton and other renters to enhance tenant rights and safer homes. This includes: an expanded Tenant Defense Fund; the new Safe Apartment Buildings Bylaw; revisions to the existing Vital Services Bylaw; and a new Renovation License and Relocation Listing Bylaw designed to deter the practice of renovictions.
  • Alongside thousands of Hamiltonians, pushed back against the Greenbelt land grab and defended the urban boundary to support an overall housing development strategy that focuses on complete, liveable communities that enable the right mix of density.
  • Supported the creation of the Housing Sustainability and Investment Roadmap (HSIR) and the new Housing Secretariat to enable Hamilton to best meet our city-wide affordable housing needs.

Better & Safer Streets

  • We broke ground on the first of many LRT enabling projects with the replacement of water mains on Sherman Avenue and subsequent improvements to the roadway design and resurfacing. This massive capital works spans Wilson St to Dunsmure for 2023, continuing south of Cumberland in 2024. These works were well-managed, and I thank neighbours for their patience during the disruptive construction period.
  • Next up will be Wilson St, which will result in converting the traffic flow to two-way while also redesigning the roadway for enhanced pedestrian safety.
  • We completed the installation of 25 speed cushions to help calm traffic down on neighbourhood roads.
  • We will have improved school route safety by reducing the speed limit on Wentworth Ave to 30 km/h by Cathy Weaver Elementary School, and installing a signalized pedestrian crosswalk on Main St at Albert. School crossing guards will now assist all pedestrians to safely cross roadways during assigned duty times.
  • Allocated $75,000 from the Ward 3 Minor Maintenance Budget towards sidewalk rehabilitation in the Lansdale neighbourhood which was completed in the spring.

Green & Public Spaces

  • A new functional art bench was installed at Century St Parkette.
  • Supported 2 new Barton St Depave projects at the Barton Library and at the corner of Sherman and Barton. As well as, expanded the one at the corner of Barton and Emerald St. These helped transform hardscapes into beautiful gardens and public use spaces.
  • Supported the volunteer appreciation of Beautiful Alleys and neighbourhood cleanups.
  • Removed the berms at Bernie Custis Secondary School to enable more flexible use of the outside green space for the student body.
  • Allocated $285,000 to 5 new drinking water fountains for Bishops, Belleview, Birch Ave, Birge, and Lifesaver Parks, to be installed in 2024.

It is incredible to see the amount of work we have accomplished together for these two neighbourhoods this year. This does not cover the full scope of the work that we have achieved for #OurWard3. Please keep an eye out for the release of the annual Community Impact Report, delivered to your mailbox this month!

I will be hosting a Ward 3 Townhall on January 31, 2024 – please save the date!

The Ward 3 office will be closed for the holidays from December 22nd until January 2nd. For City-related matters during that time, please contact 905-546-2489 or askCITY@hamilton.ca.

Yours in community,
Councillor Nrinder Nann