Changing information, a lack of factual evidence and an inability to answer the many questions posed to Cottage Farm proponents resulted in a less than favourable reception to the proposed plans for a new mental health facility in Langdale.
More than 70 community members came out to a neighbourhood meeting for the Cottage Farm Centre for Mental Health Recovery at the Gibsons Community Centre last Saturday, and the mood was one of opposition.
"I have been to a number of meetings and presentations and talked to many people regarding Cottage Farm. During these meetings, Cottage Farm has presented this project, firstly as a family farm, then a transition house, next a mental health treatment facility, a residential therapeutic community with farming as a type of therapy and now, according to your invite to this meeting, it is an organic farm. So what is it, and why do they keep changing how it is presented to us?" Langdale resident Ian Winn asked to applause.
But Cottage Farm society chair Barrie Forbes denies any change from the original plan presented to the public earlier this year.
"From our perspective, nothing has changed in terms of our original concept," Forbes said.
The Cottage Farm group presented a plan that would see 36 men and women with mental health issues such as depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia live within a therapeutic community on 26 hectares of land near the YMCA Camp Elphinstone in Langdale. There they would receive help to develop skills needed to live independently, including daily work on the proposed organic farm, which proponents say is a type of therapy in itself.
"A typical day will consist of four to five hours of farm work along with other therapies and programs including psychotherapy, life skills training, educational and employment training, nutritional training, creative/artistic workshops and other health practices and therapies such as yoga and acupuncture," the Cottage Farm handout stated.
What is not clear is how the Cottage Farm society would ensure the safety of residents in the area, where the patients would come from, exactly who the patients would be, how much it would cost to stay there and how graduates of the program would be transitioned back to their home towns.
Meeting attendees brought up these concerns and more; however, Cottage Farm proponents seemed unprepared to answer them at Saturday's meeting.
"We take all your concerns very seriously. They are well articulated and well reasoned, and we appreciate it. But there is no project you cannot find fault with," property owner Wolfgang Duntz said, encouraging the audience to look at the need for such a facility and support it.
Although the majority of comments and questions seemed to show disfavour for the project, some in attendance stood to support the proposal.
One woman talked about her sister's battle with mental illness and encouraged people to see the benefit of Cottage Farm to the mentally ill.
"I believe it is fear of the unknown that is the culprit," she said, referring to the mood of dissent.
Two people living with mental illness also spoke in favour of the project, saying it could help those who desperately need it.
The two-hour meeting ended with many questions unanswered and opponents unswayed in their opinion that Cottage Farm should not be allowed to operate in Langdale in its current form.
Forbes said the group will now take the questions raised at the meeting and seek to find answers.
"We have to take a little time to digest the meeting and make sure we understand everyone's concerns. Then we need to prepare answers and provide the information," Forbes said, adding he was unsure when or how that information would be given to the public.
