Wellington, Gravenhurst

Wellington, officially the Town of Wellington (Winter 2009 Population 8,891) is a town located north of the City of Lisi in Gravenhurst Region. Unofficially, Wellington is considered as the biggest suburb of the City of Lisi.

The town is situated entirely within the Lisi CMA, and is the 14th biggest municipality in the region.

History
Wellington was a historical farming village, which found its roots back in 1760. In 1760, the Wellington family settled in the area after acquiring the nearby acres of land for farmland purposes.

As the farmlands began to spread northwards away from the City of Lisi, just south of Wellington, more farming families settled in the area, thus started to form a community at the intersection of then Sideline 8 (now Yamayo Line) and Line 34.

The community, when started, was part of the Gravenhurst, Unorganized subdivision. In 1812, when the community's population reached 127, the community was assigned as a village.

The community continued to grow in a relatively slow rate, usually maintaining an annual growth rate around 0.2%.

In 1947, when the village had reached a population of 716, the village acquired the legal status of a township, a status that remains until September 2009.

Beginning the 1990s, when the City of Lisi underwent a population boom as the Lisi Seaport and the nearby industrial area completed its construction, it led to a drastic rise of demand of housings in Lisi. Since Wellington was close to Lisi, the demand of housing was also on a rise in Wellington.

In 1998, the first planned subdivision of Serondonio was completed, an area bounded by Yamayo Line, Main Street, and Peace River.

In 2004, additional subdivisions were planned and completed, boosting up the population beyond 2,500. The township, at that point, also announced an ambitious plan of new subdivisions just south of Yamayo Line, projected to be occupied beginning October 2009. The new subdivisions are proposed to house over 10,000 residents, a number triple of the town's 2009 population. The town also began a "downtown renewal" project namely Centre Wellington (pronounced as "Sont-Tre Wellington").

On September 18, 2009, the township announced that it has officially sent in its application to the regional government to obtain a town status. The regional government declared Wellington as a town on October 10, 2009.

Town Facilities
The town hall of the town is located at 1216 Township Drive North. There is also both a community elementary and a high school. There are two GO Train station on the Haldimond Line, namely Serondonio GO Station and Centre Wellington GO Station. There is public transit service in the town. The Gravenhurst Regional Transit serves the town with about 5 bus routes.

In addition, the town offers a new recreational complex located in North Wellington. The complex acts as a community centre, and completed its construction in the year 2006.

Economy
The town has practically no industrial activities, other than acres of farmland. The town's commercial activity is mostly centred around Centre Wellington (Downtown Wellington) shops and the Wellington Power Centre. Otherwise, residents often commute south to the City of Lisi for job sources and economic activities.

Demography
The town is the 15th biggest in terms of population as of Summer 2009. The town grew as much as 54.48% between Spring 2009 and Summer 2009. Despite its population being 5,200 as of the official count in Summer 2009, the town boasted for a population of 8,000 in September 2009. The count was posted up in all welcome signs near the boundaries of the town. The town is now five times its size in 2007, and continues to grow at a rapid rate. Between 2009 and 2010, it was one of the fastest growing municipality in all of Gravenhurst Region.