AS WE SEE IT, municipal councils should look long and hard before even considering the sale of "surplus" road allowances to an abutting property owner.

The question that ought invariably to be asked is whether such a sale is in the long-term public interest, and the answer should almost always be a decided "No!"

A request for such a sale is currently being studied by Mulmur Township council. The would-be purchaser, John Thomson, owns land on both sides of the Third Line EHS (East of Hurontario Street), and would like to own the road allowance as well. He says he'd be willing to let the public continue to use it as a trail.

However, there's obviously be no guarantee that a future owner would continue to welcome hikers.

Two of the rare exceptions to the rule against closing and selling off road allowances are the sale to Honda of part of Simcoe Road 10 to facilitate expansion of the assembly plant, something that added both jobs and assessment, and the closing of part of Hurontario Street to create Island Lake and the related conservation area.

In Dufferin, both Mulmur and Mono have many unopened road allowances, all of which should remain in public hands, either to be reopened one day or to become popular trailways through the scenic valleys and wetlands.