The residents of Elmira who have fought so valiantly to save the trees of Victoria Glen Park ought to be commended.

It is rare, in this day and age of apathy, to find anything that galvanizes such a large community response, and from such a wide variety of people.

Many who were at this week’s council meeting wonder what it was that ultimately swayed the decision of members of council, to not develop the revered natural space.

The answer is simple: it was you.

Councillors are used to attending numerous meetings, with little or no input from the public.

They don’t hear from their residents, and have to make most of their decisions in that kind of political vacuum.

They must use their own knowledge, information provided by township staff, and some common sense.

Most of the time, it works.

However, there are times when public input is of paramount importance. The Victoria Glen Park issue was just such a case.

That is because until members of the public came to council, and voiced their numerous concerns, councillors may have leaned towards developing the land.

If they thought no one cared to keep the natural wooded area, then they would have been justified as seeing it as a potential source of revenue.

Why save something that no one values?

In this case, however, they learned just how much the community values this park, and how much worth it has, even if you can’t attach a dollar figure to that kind of worth.

Without that public exchange, without the kind of process that we have just gone through, councillors may not have reached this understanding.

So, humble readers, it is time to take a bow. You are the ones who saved Victoria Glen Park.

The battle, of course, is not over. There is still an official plan review that needs to take place, sometime in the future.

Public input will be vital at that point as well, to ensure that the residentially zoned parkland will be rezoned to something vastly more appropriate.

Now that you know your voice matters, be sure to put it to good use — on this, and any other matter of importance that comes before council.

As we have all seen in the past few months, it can indeed make a difference.