SHOCKING AS WAS the confirmed closing of Shelburne's Setex Canada plant and the accompanying loss of 240 jobs, that was far from all the bad news we've had to publish this week.

As well, there was news of the actions Headwaters Health Care Centre has had to take to prevent a $1.6 million budget deficit and pretty strong indications that Humber college's Orangeville long-delayed Orangeville campus will remain on hold indefinitely.

Just why the Shelburne Setex plant was selected for closure might never be known, but we suspect one factor was in the area of infrastructure.

The plant arrived in Shelburne just as the CPR was ripping up its rails between Orangeville and Owen Sound. As a result, the now 10-year-old facility has never been able to get raw materials for the vehicular seats it produces by rail, the most cost-efficient way. Monday's announcement indicated production will be moved to plants in Milton and Newmarket, both of which happen to have good rail service available for local manufacturers.

The most troublesome aspect of the Headwaters cutbacks was the announced plan to close the outpatient physiotherapy program and outpatient Heart Function Clinic in Orangeville and the Shelburne outpatient physician clinic. These closures will inconvenience some patients in obvious need of health services, and now may make them pay for physiotherapy services once covered by OHIP.

As for the Humber campus on Veterans Way, it's a classic case of a much-needed infrastructure project that's supposedly set to go once the financing is in place, yet seems to be way down on Humber's current list of priorities.

Orangeville having long since spent nearly $3 million to acquire and service the site, the town deserves a firm commitment from Humber rather than a warning that it won't proceed without more enrolment at its substandard temporary quarters in the Alder Street Recreation Centre.