Archive

Mono bylaw grounds battling kites

July 11, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS

It’s illegal to fly souped-up kites outfitted with sharp edges for battles in the sky over Mono.

Town council gave the final reading on June 25 of a bylaw against kite fighting in Mono. And of public comments received after the bylaw’s first reading, residents seemed overwhelmingly in favour of the ban.

Fines for a person contravening the bylaw are $5,000 for a first offence and $10,000 for any subsequence offence. These increase to $50,000 for a first offence if committed by a corporation and $100,000 for subsequent offences.

The issue stems from a South Asian festival that involved flying kites in July 2023.

Basant Mela is the spring festival of kites to many people in northern India and in Pakistan’s Punjab province. It traditionally welcomes the spring season. But it was a little more than watching a few kites take flight in the sky above the Orangeville Agricultural Society’s Fairgrounds.

It was estimated that as many as 7,000 people turned out to take part in the kite celebration that left the surrounding area littered with pieces of kites and blades that had been attached to kite strings and such.

Property owners complained about the debris that fell from the kites that battled in the sky. Island Lake Conservation Area, a sensitive and protected parcel of land and water, was also littered with material from the kites.

Readers Comments (0)