{"id":572619,"date":"2026-03-31T09:52:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/572619\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T09:52:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:52:21","slug":"concerns-raised-about-council-approved-rebuild-plan-for-swansea-mews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/572619\/","title":{"rendered":"Concerns raised about council-approved rebuild plan for Swansea Mews"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

Toronto city council has approved a new rebuild plan for Swansea Mews \u2014 the community housing complex that was evacuated after a ceiling collapse<\/a> injured a resident in 2022.<\/p>\n

Some say the plan doesn\u2019t align with the wishes of former tenants, who have the right to first return when the new complex is built. They point to too many new units, unwanted retail space and not enough areas for community gathering. <\/p>\n

Nearby resident and member of grassroots group Swansea Matters, Greg Homonylo, told CBC Toronto he felt \u201cdumbfounded\u201d by council\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe former residents, they left here under duress, and they deserve something better than what the city’s proposing,\u201d he told CBC Toronto. \u201cWe all just feel betrayed and unheard.\u201d<\/p>\n

In May 2022, more than 400 residents were displaced<\/a> after engineers deemed the Toronto Community Housing (TCHC) complex near The Queensway and Windermere Avenue unsafe. The old complex included 154 social housing units.<\/p>\n

\"AGreg Homonylo lives near Swansea Mews and is a member of grassroots group Swansea Matters. He feels the displaced residents deserve better than the new plan. (Ivan Arsovski\/CBC)<\/p>\n

The newly approved plan, unveiled last November<\/a>, calls for 649 units across three buildings, including a 35-storey tower. It includes 154 replacement social housing units, 42 moderately affordable units, and 453 market-rate rentals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It also includes 654 square metres of retail space and 550 square metres of community space.<\/p>\n

Penny Fischer, a Swansea Mews resident for 14 years, spoke at the city\u2019s planning and housing committee on Feb. 26.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority of the tenants are against [the redevelopment plan],\u201d she said. \u201cWe do not feel that the infrastructure is there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Displaced residents worry about density <\/p>\n

Jardel Sallay, another displaced resident, agreed that additional units will put strain on the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking about adding 500 units. Schools, hospitals, transit \u2026 there\u2019s going to be a huge impact,\u201d he told CBC Toronto. \u201cI don\u2019t have trust that the big picture is looked at enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Homonylo with Swansea Matters questioned whether TCHC had conducted proper assessments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should be preparing a community support report and they haven\u2019t done that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Shane Bourne, TCHC\u2019s senior manager of revitalization engagement, pushed back.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of the application process, there are numerous studies and consultants to ensure the city can handle and manage the application,\u201d he told CBC Toronto.<\/p>\n

WATCH | Learn more about the city’s Swansea Mews rebuild plan:\"\"<\/p>\n

City unveils plans for new Swansea Mews development 3 years after partial collapse<\/p>\n

More than three years after a ceiling collapse forced Swansea Mews tenants from their homes, plans for a long-awaited rebuild were finally unveiled. Ali Chiasson has the details.<\/p>\n

Coun. Gord Perks, who represents the area, said the redevelopment plan balances urgent housing needs with commitments to displaced residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that we’ve met our most important baseline commitment, which is that every household who lost their housing \u2026 is going to get the right to return in a unit that is the same size and similar rents,\u201d he told CBC Toronto.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A group of tenant leaders also signed off on the proposal, Perks noted.<\/p>\n

\"AccessAccess was restricted to Swansea Mews, after a ceiling collapsed on May 27, 2022, injuring a woman. (Paul Borkwood\/CBC News)<\/p>\n

He added the re-zoning application included around 30 supporting studies covering environmental impact, water and sewer capacity, local transit, traffic, loading logistics and sidewalk sizes.<\/p>\n

Perks hopes residents will be able to return to Swansea Mews in three or four years, but said construction targets can often be impacted by outside sources.<\/p>\n

Beyond density concerns, Homonylo criticized the public consultation process, calling a meeting held on Nov. 20 \u201cinaccessible and poorly organized.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bourne acknowledged the meeting could have been better, but noted 20 community meetings have been held in total with tenant leaders and community groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went above and beyond in terms of the number and scale and the engagement that we did,\u201d he said, adding that TCHC will continue hearing tenant feedback.<\/p>\n

Some tenants prefer alternative design<\/p>\n

Homonylo questioned TCHC\u2019s sincerity, noting that an alternative design, Swansea Park, was never presented to tenants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Designed independently by architect David Peterson for the Swansea community, it proposes fewer units, lower heights, and more integrated green and communal spaces.<\/p>\n

Many tenants support the Swansea Park concept, according to Homonylo.<\/p>\n

But Bourne said TCHC\u2019s focus remains on the council-approved plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are engaging intentionally on the project that we\u2019ve done our due diligence on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":572620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-572619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=572619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/572620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=572619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=572619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=572619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}