03/18/2026
A LETTER WE HAVE EMAILED TO ALTO AND EMMA HARRISON AND LOCAL OFFICES AS WELL AS GLOBAL NEWS
WE ALL NEED TO BE HEARD !
JUST SAY NO TO ALTO !
To Whom It May Concern,
My name is Brent Berry, Owner and Operator of Campbell’s Belmont Lake Marina in Havelock, Ontario. Our primary lakeside location is at 56 Fire Route 33 off Mile of Memories Road, Havelock, and we also operate a secondary location at 106 Preston Road (6th Line of HBM), Havelock.
It has recently been brought to my attention that the proposed northern route for the ALTO high-speed rail project may cut off access to both Mile of Memories Road and the 6th Line of HBM. These roads are the primary routes connecting Highway 7 and County Road 48 to both of my business locations, as well as to Sawmill Bay Road (Fire Route 30), where I reside for nine months of the year.
This situation would be completely unacceptable and would severely impact my ability to continue operating my business. Campbell’s Belmont Lake Marina currently services, winterizes, shrink-wraps, and stores more than 600 boats and pieces of equipment belonging to local HBM taxpayers. If these key access routes are cut off, our customers will no longer be able to reach us easily, and in some cases may not be able to reach us at all.
In addition to servicing local customers, Campbell’s provides over 25 docking slips that allow access for many tax paying island cottage owners on Belmont Lake, including properties on Big Island, Mary’s Island, Birch Island, Ship Island and Burnt Island. These tax paying property owners rely on Campbell’s Marina for year-round access to their cottages, and most of them travel along Mile of Memories Road to reach us.
I took over Belmont Lake Marina in 2017 and have worked hard to build it into a place where seasonal property owners and the local community can gather and receive essential marine services year-round. To have this livelihood and community hub jeopardized by the ALTO project would be devastating—not only to my business, but to the many residents and cottage owners who rely on it.
In my opinion, and in the opinion of many others in our community, the proposed ALTO project raises serious concerns. A project of this scale—reportedly costing approximately $90 billion in taxpayer funds—will significantly impact the communities along its proposed routes, as well as the surrounding environment.
I strongly urge decision-makers to reconsider this project and to carefully evaluate the impacts on existing businesses, residents, and local infrastructure. Investment would be better directed toward improving and modernizing the rail systems we already have, enhancing their speed and reliability while minimizing disruption to established communities.
Attached are a few photo's of recognition for Campbell's Belmont Lake Marina and who we are and who we want to continue to be with NO ALTO!!!!!!!
Thank you for your time and consideration. I hope the concerns of local residents and business owners will be carefully considered before any final decisions are made.
Sincerely,
Brent Berry
Owner / Operator
