By Mia Munn
Pittsboro, NC – Though Chatham Park has come up with a plan for needed facilities for Chatham County, the idea that this should be on school district land is a bad idea.
Northwood benefits from the wooded barrier from the major road, as well as from the cross country trail through beautiful woods, used by the school and the community. The plan as Chatham Park has proposed will destroy what is there, with no plan (or funding) to replace it.
Most of you know I was involved with Woods Charter School. Do you know how Woods got the land for their school? We asked Newland. They offered five acres. My husband (the board chair at the time) came home excited about getting land for a school, and I said it wasn’t enough. He went back to Newland with my suggestion of 18 acres, and they said “oh”, and redrew the map. And just like that, Woods had the land they needed for a school.
Have you asked Chatham Park to build these facilities on THEIR land? I know the original plan had park and school plots on it. If they think these facilities would be a benefit to the community (including Chatham Park), they should add some additional land for it to their plan, which they can then donate to the COUNTY for maintenance by the Rec Department.
Don’t let a good idea blind you to the long-term detrimental effects on Northwood.
This is a copy of the email Ms. Munn sent to the Chatham County School Board and School Superintendent Anthony Jackson.