Welcome Residents of Belfountain.ca

As you know, we had sent a letter to Belfountain Estates on behalf of our community regarding the use of bird cannons based on your survey feedback.

We have received a response which you can read HERE.

It is clear from this response, that the individual is standing firm regarding continued use of bird cannons and is not taking the community concerns into consideration or looking into noise-free alternatives.

The Belfountain Community Organization is considering next steps in line with your survey responses.  We will have a decision made at our next board meeting on September 17 and communicate this with you.    While we work collectively on your behalf, please do not hesitate to email your concerns directly to Belfountain Estates – Sean Cunningham pigz1@me.com.  CC your email to our Town of Caledon councilors Christina Early christina.early@caledon.ca, Lynn Kiernan lynn.kiernan@caledon.ca and the BCO at secretary@belfountain.ca

Thank you

The Belfountain Community Organization 

Good afternoon,

As a follow up to the recent bird cannon survey and the responses from our community, the letter below was sent to the landowner on the morning of August 27th.  Mayor Groves, Councillors Early and Kiernan, Caledon Enforcement and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food were copied with the letter.  Both councillors heard the cannons first hand yesterday while visiting Belfountain.  We will now wait 5 business days for a reply:

——————————————————————————————————————

August 27, 2025

Mr. Sean Cunningham

17529 Shaws Creek Rd,

Caledon, ON

L7K 0E5

pigz1@me.com

Via Email Only

Dear Mr. Cunningham,

RE: Bird Cannons

The Hamlet of Belfountain has a population of 347 people within 160 dwellings. The Belfountain Community Organization is committed to preserving the rural, heritage and environmental integrity of the Hamlet of Belfountain and its environs.  We are a volunteer organization which began in 1987.   We have evolved as development and other related issues threaten the well being of our community.

In response to numerous complaints by residents about the nuisance noise being generated by the bird cannons used at your farm, the BCO undertook a survey to garner an overall feeling of the community.

As of today, we have received 88 responses.

• 61.6% are very concerned
• 16.2% are some what concerned
• 22.2% are not concerned
•  

The geographic representation of those that responded as concerned or very concerned are located within the hamlet and/or directly adjacent to the West Credit River valley.  Most are within 1km of the point of discharge.  Concerns are associated with disturbing the peace, scaring pets, disruption of daytime sleep for shift workers or harming business.  This is characterized as a disruptive nuisance to the residents of the Hamlet of Belfountain.

One response included this press release regarding Adamo Estate Winery in Hockley and how they are now using an advanced bird deterrent system that does not involve noisy bird cannons. They made this switch after the cannons did not work, numerous complaints about the noise and a negative effect on Hockley Valley Resort and local tourism.     We understand that your cannons did not protect your crop last year.

The bird cannons have been confirmed as a nuisance upsetting the residents of Belfountain.  It would be prudent of you to discuss this matter with Adamo Estate Winery directly.  We ask that you investigate and implement alternative solutions that are not a disruptive nuisance to our community as soon as possible.

A written response to this letter within the next 5 business days would be appreciated as we will be informing residents of your position.

Thank you,

The Belfountain Community Organization

Website – Belfountain.ca  Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/BelfountainCommunity/Twitter – https://twitter.com/Belfountainca

Small is Beautiful

SAVE THE DATE!  

BELFOUNTAIN IS HAVING A 200th ANNIVERSARY PARTY

AND YOU’RE INVITED!

EVENT DETAILS
As many will know by now, the planning for the Belfountain Bi-Centennial celebration is well underway. Your community members have been hard at work organizing a parade and street party for our community’s once-in-a-lifetime event, Saturday, October 4, from 11:00a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

ROAD CLOSURE
Roads in and out of Belfountain will be closed Saturday, October 4th, 10:00a.m. to 6:00p.m. for the festivities.

ROADS AFFECTED

The roads affected will be: 

• Bush Street and River Road closed from Shaw’s Creek Road to Old Main Street
• Mississauga Road (south) closed from Woodland Court to Old Main Street
• Forks of the Credit Road from River Road to Mississauga Road (north)
• Caledon Mountain Estates roads will be closed
• Staging for the 200th Anniversary Parade is on 
  Woodland Court at Mississauga Road

Barricades will be operated by O.P.P Caledon Detachment.  See maps below

Residents will be able to leave if necessary but please notify us in advance if a vehicle needs to leave your property so that our volunteers can escort your vehicle out of the closed road area. Re-entry by shuttle only until after 6pm

PARKING

Free parking is available at the Caledon Ski Club West Lodge Ski Club and Belfountain Public School with shuttle buses available from the ski club to Belfountain, Forester’s Park and BPS, and back throughout the day.

FLOATS, VENDORS AND VOLUNTEERS!

Parade – promote your business, club or collaborate with friends and neighbours to create a float or march together to join the parade! Drive your Vintage car! 

Parade Awards! Win ‘Best Dressed’, ‘Best Parade Display’, ‘Funniest Float’, ‘Peoples Choice’, and more!  

Parade Features

• Sandhill Pipes & Drums Band,
• 2nd York Militia & Canadian Volunteers of 1812 re-enactment co.,
• horses,
• vintage cars,
• Erin Air Cadets, and more!

Vendors 

Be part of the Vendors’ Market! Email us to book your vendor space!

Volunteers – Be part of this epic street party!

ATTENTION STUDENTS! We give COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS!  

ALL VOLUNTEERS receive a free commemorative T-shirt*, lunch and snacks. 

RSVP your participation by sign-up forms available on our socials  @Belfountain200 

OR email to Belfountain Heritage Society: belfountainheritage@gmail.com

*Kindly RSVP your t-shirt size so that we can order the correct # of Volunteer t-shirts. 

JUST A FEW OF THE FAMILY FUN ACTIVITIES

Rain or shine, events of the day will include a parade, with horses, vintage cars, Erin Air Cadets, Sandhill Pipes & Drums Band, Blue Bonnet Lassies Highland Dancers, the unveiling of the new Belfountain Commemorative Sculpture and history plaque, live music, scavenger hunt, quadball games, heritage art show and displays in the Community Hall, vendors, the 2nd York Militia with the Canadian Volunteers will re-enact battles of the 1812 War in Forester’s Park, along with much more!

Make history! Invite your family and friends to come join the fun and be part of Belfountain’s 1-day milestone event organized by your community for the community! 

Questions?  Please contact  Sarah, Evan or Steve at belfountainheritage@gmail.com

We would like to thank everyone who has submitted a response to our community survey regarding the noise from the bird cannons.

As of today, we have received 70 responses.

• 58% are very concerned
• 14% are some what concerned
• 28% are not concerned 

The geographic representation of those that responded as concerned or very concerned are located within the hamlet and/or directly adjacent to the West Credit River valley.  Most are within 1km of the point of discharge.  Concerns are associated with disturbing the peace, scaring pets, disruption of daytime sleep for shift workers or harming business.  This is characterized as a disruptive nuisance to the residents of the community of Belfountain.

One response included this news article regarding Adamo Estate Winery in Hockley and how they are now using advanced bird deterrent system that does not involve noisy bird cannons. They made this switch after the cannons did not work, numerous complaints about the noise and a negative effect on Hockley Valley Resort and local tourism.     A representative of the community will follow up with Adamo Estate Winery to ask for further  details.

Based on your feedback indicating the majority of local residents would like the BCO to take some action,  the BCO will write a letter to the property owner of Belfountain Estates Farm, with the results from the survey and the article regarding Adamo Winery.  We will ask Belfountain Estates to investigate and implement alternative solutions that are not a disruptive nuisance to our community.

We will share the farm’s response with you and advise of next steps.

If you have not yet completed the survey, we encourage you to do so as we will be closing it off this Tuesday.

Thank you,

The BCO

The community of Belfountain seems to be suffering from a large amount of noise recently.  You will have been hearing gun shots from 7:30 am – 8:30 pm every five minutes every day since August 11^th.   These gunshots are from propane powered bird cannon designed to scare birds temporarily.    The farmer at 17529 Shaws Creek Road is using these devices to protect the vineyard as birds will eat grapes as they ripen on the vines.

We would like your feedback regarding this situation and your recommendation on appropriate actions the Belfountain Community Organization should coordinate on behalf of the community.

To gather this information, please answer this four question survey so we can understand your feelings on the matter.   Survey is accessible through this LINK.

Your feedback is important to us.

Thank you,

The BCO

Community Art and Poster Workshop!

Trivia Night!

Part of Belfountain’s  200^th Anniversary Celebrations

 Saturday June 28^th

Belfountain Community Hall

1pm-4pm:  Join in the free poster printing and art workshop with artists

Wendy Mitchell & Cindy Leeman

6pm-8pm: Community trivia night hosted by Rob Rees – learn new things and socialize!

Hope to see you there!

In February 2025, the Ontario Land Tribunal heard our case regarding the Manors of Belfountain’s subdivision proposal.  BCO’s case is based on two critical interests, protection of our groundwater and protection of our ecology. The BCO experts (legal counsel, hydrogeologist and aquatic sciences expert) have provided high quality evidence to the OLT. They are now submitting their invoices and must be paid.  We have collected on your pledges and received your generous donations. Thank you.

Its’s your water!

Our total cost of the tribunal for protecting Belfountain’s water and ecology is $267,400.

We are 10% short on funds.  $28,800 is required to complete payment for legal fees.  This is an urgent call for your additional donations please.  Every amount matters and helps.   If you or someone you know would like to donate, you can do so by any of these methods some of which provide tax receipts as indicated:

Donating directly to the B.C.O: 100% of donations made are used to pay legal fees, experts’ invoices, and administration costs. No tax receipts are available.  The B.C.O. is an incorporated non-profit organization supported by volunteers. You can donate directly to the B.C.O. by cheque, cash or e-transfer by contacting treasurer@ belfountain.ca, or click on the link below to use PayPal at BCO to support the initiatives.

If you do not require a tax receipt, your funds can be directed directly to the BCO through e-transfer to treasurer@belfountain.ca or via PayPal at this link https://www.paypal.com/donate. Alternatively, contact through treasurer@Belfountain.ca for cheque or cash pickup or delivery instructions.  Cheques should be addressed to the Belfountain Community Organization.

Donating through Small Change Fund: Donations to Small Change Fund are used for legal fees.  The project: (Manors of Belfountain Subdivision) Belfountain-needs-your-help.  When you donate $25 or more you will receive a tax receipt.  SCF does retain a percentage of the funds donated to support the services they provide as outlined on their website.  Here is the link to the Small Change Fund: https://smallchangefund.ca/project/belfountain-needs-your-help/.

We would greatly appreciate your donation being made within the next two weeks if that is possible.    The BCO fundraising committee will be coming door to door again.

Please share this email and spread the word to everyone you can think of that can help us with these outstanding payments.   !

Belfountain may be small, but we are mighty when we work together!

As you may be aware from recent news articles, the Town of Caledon is moving towards “Regional Councillor at Large” rather than the current two councillors representing wards.

The result could be that our Regional Councillor resides in Bolton.  Issues such as water, wells, septic systems, farms and rural life might not be fully represented for the taxes we are paying. 

Town of Caledon committee meeting is Tues May 6th at 2:30 pm. Residents are encouraged to attend. 6311 Old Church Rd, Caledon East, ON L7C 0H2

https://actionnetwork.org/user_files/user_files/000/122/755/original/2025_04_11_Municpal_Election_Democracy_at_Risk_in_Caledon_-_11_APR_2025.pdf

https://justsayincaledon.com/resident-on-shift-to-at-large-system-in-caledon-that-is-not-representation-that-is-erasure/ 

Residents can still weigh in on this issue either by letter or email or appearing as a delegate at the May 6th committee meeting.

See: https://www.caledon.ca/en/government/speak-at-council.aspx

Your Councillor’s contact info: https://www.caledon.ca/en/government/mayor-and-council.aspx