'Future is exciting': Southwold Township mayor expects population to double in next decade

A small township southwest of London, Ont. is transforming.

Southwold Township has experienced 10 per cent growth in the past couple of years, and officials project the population to double in the next decade.

“We're just under 5,000 [people], maybe just at 5,000,” said Grant Jones, Southwold mayor. “So [in] ten years maybe 10,000”.

A big contributor to that growth is big business, like the new Amazon facility in Talbotville.

“We're trying to get industrial growth, and for industrial growth, you need residential growth to bring the businesses,” said Jones.

With prosperity and expansion comes the need for new services. The township has broke ground on a new fire hall in Talbotville, which will include a new entrance off Highway 3.

Representatives from Southwold Township, Southwold Fire Dept. and Baribeau Construction do a ceremonial ground breaking for a new fire hall in Talbotville, Ont. on Saturday July 6, 2024 (Source: Brent Lale/CTV London)

“We currently have a two-bay fire hall with three apparatus in it,” said Chief Jeff MacArthur of the Southwold Fire Department.

“The new hall will feature a drive through based on capacity for six apparatus for future growth. It will have a training room, office space and proper washrooms”.

The total cost of this project is a modest $4.3 million, which is significantly less than many of the new halls built in other surrounding communities. One of the reasons for that is that the family of the late Bob McCaig donated the three acres of land.

That land once belonged to the Ford Motor Company which kick-started the growth of Southwold nearly six decades ago.

“That really obviously promoted some growth at the time and prompted this [fire] station being built,” said MacArthur.

A new $4.3 million fire hall is being built in Talbotville, Ont. to serve the future needs of the community (Source: Southwold Township)

“Here we are with new development to include in the new Amazon facility down the road on Sunset [Road] that has kind of, brought that same development and growth back to South Township. It’s interesting that it is even on the same ground”.

The advancement in the township is easy to see. Take a drive along Optimist Drive in Talbotville and you will see hundreds of homes under construction, and the Dream Lottery even chose that location as the spot for a Dream Home in 2022.

They tore out their old baseball diamond and built a brand new one, along with a soccer field and other amenities for residents.

“It's a very busy time for us, especially for staff and council right now with a lot of things happening,” said Jones.

“We're looking at our Wastewater plant that we just built five, six years ago is already committed to full capacity. We’re very excited about the future, as it’s going to be really busy”.