enviro: Vancouver slate proposes city parks plan
Rachel Forbes, The Peak

Vancouver parks preserve precious public space and urban ecosystems. Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) mayoral candidate Larry Campbell and parks board candidates Heather Deal and Eva Riccius announced their party's new strategy to take care of the Vancouver's educational and environmental assets at a press conference on October 10.

The Greening Parks plan is a set of proposals aimed at greening and sustaining Vancouver's park system with the goal being to energise public interest and restore the ecological integrity of our parks.

COPE argues that "the Non-Partisan Association-led parks board has failed to pursue an inclusive and environmentally aware approach to Vancouver's green spaces. They have considered the interests of commercial developers before the interests of the ecology of our parks." COPE is interested in establishing better policies and practices for our environment through engaging citizens in collaborative participation.

Ideas for improving the health and diversity of Vancouver's parks include organic pest controls, integration of native species, encouraging naturalised habitats, and shifting to cost-effective naturalised water retention and wetland systems. COPE would also introduce a policy of "no-net-loss" of green space, and environmental impact assessments for significant land use changes.

Deal boasts that with the Greening plan, "Vancouver's parks will be on the ecological cutting-edge."

An added benefit of the plan would be the resulting operating efficiencies in parks maintenance. According to COPE's informal consultations with union workers, this shift would entail only a redefinition of union jobs, not a loss of them.

The proposal itself has not yet received any oppositional reaction. In fact, former Green Party member and current independent candidate for Councillor Roslyn Cassels helped COPE develop the plan and "supports it completely."

The Vancouver Green Party also shares many of the same visions for the environment. As an activist, Green candidate Scott Braithwaite-Nelson took part in COPE's policy development focus groups and believes the two parties have a beneficial working relationship in the advocacy work they do. He is "very, very pleased that COPE is adopting strong measures and looks forward to sitting on the parks board with them and getting these issues through."

Among NPA accomplishments from the past term in office are the creation of a network of new bikeways, greenways, and seawalls and the development of 136 acres of new parks and 166,000 square feet of new community centre space.

Heather Deal does not dismiss the NPA's achievements, but cautions that parks may not have been created in the best places or used the most sustainable strategies. For example, native hedges and grasses could be used in place of chain link fences and artificial turf, and permeable surfaces of laid stones could be a viable alternative to increased paved parking space.

She also stresses that the type of park - recreational or ecological - should appropriately match the neighbourhood's needs and capacities, be equitably distributed, and adhere to a no-net-loss of green space principle. The proposed facilities at Trillium and Hillcrest parks are instances where Deal says, "these parks commissioners simply [have not] done investigations or consulting."

The Evergreen Foundation is a national, non-profit, non-partisan organisation with a mission to, "bring nature to the city through urban naturalisation projects." Although he has no criticisms of the NPA's current management, Evergreen representative Shaugn Schwartz is encouraged by COPE's fresh platform: "We feel it is aligned with the new perspective on how to maximise socio-economic and environmental benefits of nature and natural processes in the city."

Heather Deal agrees that COPE's park management view is a holistic and integrated one. "We are the environment, it is not 'other.' I feel the same way about arts and culture. We can enjoy our parks more fully by opening them up to multiple uses, which simultaneously makes them livelier and safer spaces for citizens."

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