Oct 15, 2014


Councillor

Alice Madigan – bring back a thriving community

Alice Madigan remembers that when she was young, Denbigh and the surrounding area was thriving.

“There was always something going on. It was a thriving community back then,” she said.

Madigan was raised at Slate Falls, near Denbigh. She left the area and moved to different parts of the province, eventually settling in Carleton Place. She worked as a materials manager and at other jobs in the financial sector. In 1991, with her husband, she purchased a cottage back at Slate Falls.

Sadly, her husband died in 2007 and in 2010 she moved back to Slate Falls on a permanent basis. She joined the Denbigh Recreation Committee, and is still an active member. When the emergency services department of Lennox and Addington recommended cutting service in Denbigh, she became chair of the group that sprang up to oppose the cut from a 24 hour to a 12 hour a day service. The group, which still exists, is called the Denbigh Ambulance Network.

“We did what we could, and we are not happy about the outcome. We are still worried about losing everything but we also know that we really need a 24/7 ambulance because of the distances involved,” she said.

She is also concerned about the state of the local economy and would like the township to do whatever it can to attract and maintain businesses.

In her view, one of the major flaws of the current council boils down to communication.

“What I've heard from people is that they never know what's going on with the council. That's a big thing. I would work on improving communication, actually allowing the community to have a say in decisions that will impact them,” she said.

She said it is easy to make promises but one councilor can only do their best to listen and learn and serve the community.

“It's not that important what I think about the issues, it's how I represent the concerns of others that really counts,” she said.

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