WELLINGTON NORTH – Councillors are determined to keep Wellington North's Butter Tart Trail out of the County of Wellington's hands as they explore how to return the trail to its former glory.
Unanimously defeating a staff recommendation to give the Butter Tart Trail trademark to the County of Wellington to build up the initiative at a council meeting Monday evening, Wellington North councillors argued to "rejuvenate" the popular trail instead of taking a backseat and "handing the reins over to the county."
"Culinary tourism is very big at this time. And yes, I can appreciate the fact that Wellington County has more resources but if we can partner with our economic development partners and the chambers, I think that this could be the success that it once was," said Coun. Sherry Burke, during the meeting.
The township's manager of community and economic development, Mandy Jones, said the motion came about because "there hasn't been a lot of effort" put into the Butter Tarts and Buggies Trail for the last few years and the county's economic development department reached out about taking over so they could market and brand it on a larger scale.
A suggested route showcasing local businesses offering butter tarts and related products, the Butter Tart Trail transitioned into the Butter Tarts and Buggies program in March 2018 after council approved a two-year partnership agreement with Mapleton, Minto, West Grey and Southgate to expand the initiative and focus on a broader theme of regional tourism.
"I think we're in a different place than we were when we were at the end of the butter tart trail ... with regards to tourism (we know) that sometimes it doesn't have to be a big splash, it just needs to be something small and spontaneous to start the wheel rolling," said Burke.
According to township staff, the county's economic development department intends to "strategically highlight" businesses offering butter tarts in Wellington County including Wellington North to ensure representation across all seven municipalities.
Officially adopting the Butter Tart Trail brand would allow them to leverage brand name recognition while showcasing local food tourism offerings and other trails said staff in the report.
Over the past few years, this has been offered through the County's Taste Real Program's list of butter tart locations which staff said are associated "by default" with Wellington North's Butter Tart Trail. Jones said the County of Wellington's butter tart promotion in 2023 was considered separate from the original trail.
Warden Andy Lennox said he could support the township doing the trail themselves but questioned whether they should limit it to Wellington North instead of "widening the umbrella a little bit."
Coun. Steve McCabe said he wouldn't "mind widening the umbrella just so long as we're not lost in it."
"One of the problems that I think this program ran into before was maintaining a critical mass of enough participants to keep it viable," said Lennox.
The Butter Tart Trail was officially trademarked by Wellington North in 2006.
Staff will return with a report on different options to retain ownership over the trademark, program development and resource allocation at a future meeting.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
