Welcome to Ward 14
We are continuing our journey through London’s wards in this summer series. We are traversing London, and from the west end, we make our way back to the east end. This is the seventh ward in our series, so we are at the halfway mark! For this instalment, we are profiling Ward 14 in London’s south end.
Ward 14 for this coming municipal election will consist of Westminster Park and parts of Glen Cairn, Tempo, Glanworth, Brockley, Old Victoria, Highbury, and Bradley.
You may be familiar with this ward if you’ve gone on jaunts weaving through Westminster Ponds, all five of them. Remember those field trips in elementary school to the Pond Mills Environmental Education Centre? Did you go to high school at Laurier? Maybe you work at one of the factories along Innovation Park or Newbold Street? Or maybe you’ve braved traffic to go to Costco on the weekends. That’s Ward 14.
The area is a land of contrasts. The northwest corner of this ward is in the geographic centre of the city, with Wellington and Commissioners being one of the most travelled intersections. It contains inner suburbs, like Westminster Park, Glen Cairn, Woods, and newer neighbourhoods, like Summerside and Victoria-on-the-River. Much of the ward is completely rural and largely unaffected by the recent Urban Growth Boundary adjustment.
Transit is a mixed bag in this area of London. The buses along Wellington are relatively fast and frequent, but in some neighborhoods, long circuitous bus routes meander, resulting in rides taking longer to get to whatever destination Londoners want to visit. And then there are the industrial buses, which operate infrequently, and barely cover the shift times for all workers north and south of Highway 401. One can only hope that the Wellington Gateway rapid transit project, which runs along the west edge of the ward, will improve transit in the area.
Cycling is a bit better. Along the north edge of the ward, the Thames Valley Parkway makes it easy to access Meadowlily Woods. I also had the chance in covering this ward to ride along the multiuse pathway along Wellington Road near Wilkins Street. It was a long time coming, as Wellington was one of the few major roads in the city to not have a sidewalk on both sides. Over the years, I would hear anecdotes about the reasoning of a lack of sidewalk. Chiefly among them, was that Wellington is adjacent to an environmentally significant area, and thus a sidewalk would harm that area. But since it is being constructed, it turns out municipal governments can just do things.
Demographically, Ward 14 is a land of contrasts. Glen Cairn, of which this ward takes in the part south of Commissioners Road, has the greatest proportion of Indigenous people in the city. The Jackson district is one of the most ethnically diverse districts in London, with four of the top 10 languages spoken at home being languages widely spoken in India.
This ward, and its constituents, have a lot of competing origin stories. In this ward, you have people who have had roots in the city for generations, alongside people who chose to move to the city recently, or they were annexed into London more than 30 years ago. I have always wondered how they live together, and how do they fit together in our shared story?
That’s our challenge this summer: the story of London Ontario in 14 wards. Join us. We’re going by bike and by car, and we’re inviting Londoners into the conversation.
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Cedric says:
Hi all, it’s your city, editor here! I talked about origin stories, and this part of the city is just another place where I grew up in. It’s great to chat with Mike about these great parts of the great sum of our city, and we are glad to have a guest on this little podcast, who knows this area very well – former ward 14 councillor Jared Zaifman.
Mike says:
This has been a learning experience for me. What an enormous part of London and what a lot of different aspects it combines. It groups most of the rural parts of the city under one council member and has plenty of pockets of residential too. I enjoyed our three-person chat - I hope all of this gives you some insight into Ward 14.
Every week, we’re having a chat in the ward itself. Here are our musings together in Ward 14, where as usual we have environmental sounds and an authentic, perhaps unpolished approach to the content. Let us know what you think!
Part 1: Introducing Ward 14
Ward 14 - Tempo, Brockley, Glanworth, Westminster, Glen Cairn, Jackson, Highbury, Bradley, Old Victoria
Population - 31,627
Cedric writes
Ward 14 has always been a southeast London ward, created in 2006 from the former Ward 5. From 2006 to 2010, the ward consisted of much of south London between Wellington Road and Highbury Avenue. Since 2010, the ward has consisted of London southeast of Wellington and Commissioners.
The ward for the 2026 municipal election will see a very substantial change. Ward 14 will inherit all of London south of Highway 401. Much of Ward 14 was very rural, and now that composition continues to increase in rural London’s favour.
The last time London had a rural-heavy ward was during London’s most recent annexation in 1993, in which London’s area ballooned to about three times its previous size. London annexed most of the Town of Westminster, which ceased to exist, plus parts of the Townships of London, North Dorchester, West Nissouri, and Delaware. In this instance, all areas annexed by London became a part of a new ward, Ward 8. Ben Veel, the final mayor of Westminster, was named as councillor for the newest parts of London. For the 1994 election, the ward was abolished and split between the other seven wards, and since then, nearly every ward has shared an equal (or close to it) piece of rural London.
Until this election, that heavily rural part of south London was represented by councillors of Wards 9, 12, and 14. Effective November 15 of this year, much of it will be represented by one ward councillor.
Part 2: Around the ward
Tempo
Cedric writes
Ward 14’s share of the Tempo district includes the former hamlet of the same name that was largely demolished when Highway 401 was constructed in Southern Ontario. The name lives on in Tempo Road, where Local 120 of the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers is located. On the other side of Colonel Talbot Road is Burtwistle Lane. In that cul-de-sac, there lies a Best Western hotel and an associated wedding venue across the street that was once a Presbyterian church, holding services from 1889 until 2000.
The main intersection that is Colonel Talbot Road and Highway 401 has been under construction for the last few years due to an overhaul of the highway-to-highway interchange. The long-standing cloverleaf design was deemed outdated by the province, and has also necessitated a reconfiguration of the local road network around it, as identified by local farmers. Farmers have raised concerns about being able to operate their vehicles safely along Glanworth Drive, which is grade-separated from the 401.
Brockley
Cedric writes
Brockley largely refers to the community that lies along Dingman Drive, around the CN Talbot subdivision tracks. You know you were in the neighbourhood when you pass by the blue sign that lets you know that the community was founded in 1926, that it has been in London since 1993, and that the community is celebrating its Centennial alongside London’s by Centennial. Whenever I venture through the neighbourhood, it is to visit Krafty Kennedy’s Craft Barn for drawing supplies.
But there’s more to the area than that. There is a massive commercial area around Wellington between the 401 and Dingman Drive. One of its most prominent stores, Costco, has had an outsized impact on the area, where rush hour in the area takes place after the typical work day and on weekends. The original warehouse, at Wellington and Roxburgh Road, moved in 2023 to Dingman Drive, where even the gas bar and parking lots have long lines.
Population growth in the south part of this city is leading to the proposal and future development of a sports park just down the road from the Costco.
Glanworth
Cedric writes
Glanworth usually refers to the hamlet at Bradish Road and Glanworth Drive, but the district encompasses the rural southeast part of the city. The hamlet is mostly residential, with a few businesses located at the main corner of the community. Glanworth Park is located further south on Bradish Road. East of the main intersection, is the Glanworth Library. Opened in 1912, it was a part of the Middlesex County Library system until annexation in 1993. It faced closure more than a decade ago, due to retrofitting costs. However, the community rallied behind it, and it remains open to this day, for four hours a week, split between a Saturday morning and a weeknight.
Highbury
Cedric writes
This district centres on Wilton Grove Road, east of Highbury Avenue south. As a cyclist, I’ve ventured through the area a lot despite all the trucks. It’s like a blue collar, road warrior Mecca. The Flying J truckstop seems to have everything one needs for going on the road. And the Denny’s located adjacent to it has fine and filling food.
This district may be familiar to you if you’ve ever received an invite (for any reason, really, but mostly from your workplace) to the Columbia Sportswear factory store located on Max Brose Drive. Not far from there, that industrial area has been in the news on and off for the last year as micro-modular shelters were set up at 3900 Cheese Factory Road, near Max Brose. Installed with the intention of sheltering a set number of unhoused people for the winter season, there has been praise for improving the material conditions of the residents with operating costs and the location itself being panned by critics.
Bradley
Cedric writes
The Bradley district consists of just Bradley Avenue, and little else. It is entirely rural, with much outside activity coming from the Route 38 bus, which makes 14 runs each weekday. I’ve seen horses and cows when I’ve cycled along this road from the east end to Dorchester and Nilestown. I would not be surprised to see development spill over from Summerside in the far, distant future; London’s official plan designates residential development abutting this district.
Glen Cairn
Cedric writes
For about a year or two in my early childhood, this was where I called home. I still can remember where all of the streets and parks are, like it was yesterday. West of Pond Mills Road, there are a lot of semi-detached houses; you are statistically more likely to know someone whose address has the letter A or B beside their number in Glen Cairn than elsewhere in the city. I attended Glen Cairn Public School in junior kindergarten before moving to northwest London.
East of Pond Mills, is a great deal of nature here, for all the suburbia. If you grew up in London, you’ll likely remember going on school trips to the Pond Mills Environmental Education Centre. I really love the murals that have been painted in recent years. The North Pond and South Ponds are a peaceful place for a hike. It is very hard to believe that this area, mainly Pond View Road, was once a part of a thoroughfare. Since the 1980s, Pond View Road has been truncated just west of what was once known as Highway 126, with the remainder of it now being known as Bradley Avenue.
Westminster Park
Cedric writes
I came to know Westminster Park at a very young age, as I frequented the plaza located at the southwest corner of Southdale and Adelaide. Like all suburban strip malls, there is an eclectic mix of business and services here. On the north side of that intersection is one of the entrances to the Westminster Ponds. It is one of London’s best natural areas, and hiking through here through all four seasons is something I recommend. No two journeys are the same, every time I’ve walked through the area. Another entrance to the woods carries a lot of history. Western Counties Road leads to it, and was once a series of occupational therapy pavilions intended to treat returning veterans of the Second World War. There were 11 buildings on the site, but today, four of them remain intact. With the other seven buildings, they have since been demolished, but one can see the outlines of where they once stood.
The area will also be a leadership capital in the future as Middlesex County will be relocating their administrative headquarters from downtown’s old Court House to a new building adjacent to the county’s paramedic services headquarters at the dead end of Adelaide Street South, overlooking the 401.
Old Victoria
Cedric writes
This district largely centres on the industrial parks (namely Innovation Park) on both sides of Veterans Memorial Parkway.
Dr Oetker is one of the most prominent manufacturing facilities that set up shop early on in this area. Located on Nova Court, there is an access road to the building that is ceremonially named Oetker Gate.
On the east side of the VMP is another industrial park, which is like the brain of Southeast London. Off of Bradley Avenue reside Fanshawe College’s Advanced Business Industry Solutions and Western University’s WINDEEE Research Institute.
Jackson
Cedric writes
You may know this district better because of its most prominent neighborhood, Summerside. Located east of the Highbury Avenue expressway, it was developed starting in the 1990s, with apartment buildings and single-family homes being constructed to this day.
Long time residents will remember when there was a RONA located in the plaza adjacent to the Highbury and Commissioners interchange. I remember visiting here when I moved back to Southeast London, and walking home with a few recycling bins. Soon after that, the Rona shut down, depriving area residents of a large-scale hardware store within walking distance. The area has since been filled with an Activity Plex, that claims to be a “one-stop shop” for extracurricular activities for kids of all ages.
Further along Commissioners is a plaza located on the corner with Meadowgate Boulevard. Opposite that intersection is the City Wide Sports Park, complete with a soccer pitch, a football field, and two baseball diamonds. I have always seen the park full of activity every time we drove onto Commissioners after attending training classes with our dog at In Dogs We Trust.
In the Summerside neighbourhood, one of the long-standing political issues was the need for a secular, English-language elementary school. There existed French-language schools like the secular secondary school in Gabriel-Dumont, and the Catholic elementary school in Satin-Jean-de-Brebeuf, but nothing for those who were anglophone. Summersiders’ (is that a real demonym?) wishes were answered in 2018 with Thames Valley District School Board approving the opening of a school in the area. It opened in 2022, overcapacity, with a dozen portable classrooms on the site. The opening of Jackson Meadows Public School, on the other side of Jackson Road, this coming September should help ameliorate things, for now.
Part 3: Politics of Ward 14
Mike writes
This ward is an open field, it seems, as one of a handful where the incumbent isn’t running again. Steve Hillier is completing two terms, having defeated Jared Zaifman (guest voice on our podcast) in 2018, that time we had ranked ballots. It was fairly close, as the screencap below shows.
This time around, there are just two candidates so far: Sarah Lehman, who was second to Hillier four years ago, and has a website here, and Jason King, who has one here.
2022 results
2018 results
2014 results
A full list of Ward candidates is maintained by the City Clerk’s Office here. And you can find a guide to every ward in our MEGAPOST here.
Part 4: In the news
Mike writes
What a lot of varying parts there are in this ward. It’s hard to get a handle on the storytelling here, not least because it’s effectively farming area within the city. There is coverage for ag issues in local media, notably through Ontario Farmer, but still there is a little scrutiny of these great tracts of land.
And, there remain some stories in (or at least in the neighbourhood of) Ward 14, though best found by looking into the stories of places where people come together.
For example, here’s a great Narcity piece about Westminster Ponds, and here’s a recent City Hall story about a high-rise development nearby.
And the shelters on Cheese Factory Road have generated lots of media. Here’s a recent story from CTV.
Glanworth Library is a local landmark, and subject of much reporting when threatened. Here’s a CBC story about libraries.
Here’s a strong success story on Innovation Drive - 50 jobs at a cabinetmaker. London Free Press
And there’s that issue of maintaining Highbury Avenue, and an attempt to push costs to the province. LFP
There are always road crashes in an area like this, and here’s an example from Glanworth.
Part 5: And there’s more…
Our restaurant pick
Cedric writes
Asian Wok is located in the Summerside Shopping Centre, a strip plaza at Commissioners and Highbury. It has been a favourite in our family for the last decade. Even as I’ve moved away from the area, we still drive to the restaurant to order takeout. I recommend getting a dinner combo that is intended for more people than whom you’re ordering for.
The unmissable landmarks
The McDonalds Water Tower
This is one of the tallest non-residential structures in the ward. Located at 4380 Wellington Road, the water tower’s original purpose was to provide water to a site that was located outside of the city limits. On this site is a standalone McDonalds, with the rest of the stores being connected in a strip.
Most longtime Londoners will remember the area as Treasure Islands Shopping Centre and the London Gardens. By 1981, the mall was rebranded as Superstore Mall, and slowly declined in the 1990s with the relocation of the Zehrs grocery store and the United Furniture Warehouse. The mall became entirely vacant during the 2010s and the interior portion was demolished in 2019.
London Gardens, the original home of the London Knights, became the Ice House in 1994. Eight years later, the Knights moved downtown to what is now Canada Life Place. The Ice House was later repurposed as a cycling velodrome known as Forest City Velodrome.
That’s Ward 14
And that’s how we see it. We travelled through what is London’s largest ward by area, enjoyed its diversity, gazed at the farms and factories, and we offer you this guide to what it’s all about.
The Cedric/Mike teamup will continue all summer! We’re looking at all 14 wards, featuring one every Tuesday all the way to September. You can follow along here at London Ontario Online News, where there’s new content every day and we live here, too.
We’d love you to stay engaged and in touch. You can send us any topics you’d like us to discuss, or questions, or most anything else. Thank you - see you soon!
I'm a relative newcomer to London (2020), although I lived here for a few years as a kid when my dad was the general manager of the long-defunct Cowan's Hardware on Dundas. I even started school here, before we left for Toronto in 1972. Your weekly guide to the wards, and Cedric's SW Ontario 'stacks have helped me to learn more about the city and generate an ever growing list of things to see and do.