Everyone owns Westmount Park

Perhaps the administration failed at that time to comprehend that the community found the notion of fencing off sections of the park for the exclusive use of soccer players just as unpalatable as polyvinyl grass.

How otherwise to explain the re-emergence, on the City’s web-site, of a plan to privatize the park for the exclusive use of soccer players whose season lasts all of six to eight weeks a year? Permanent fencing of three quarters of the lower field will ensure that no-one else, children or adults, will have access to that green space at any time. According to the proposal, all other users, including the children of Westmount Park School and the Narnia Daycare, will be crammed into the remaining one quarter and it will be covered in “grass or other type of ground cover.” Ironically, one of the stated goals of the proponents of artificial turf, while not credible, was to combat obesity. How does drastically reducing the space for free play improve children’s health?

Paradoxically, while ostensibly seeking to maximize the use of playing space, the larger and pre-eminent field on upper Melville Avenue, used by a number of senior teams and scores of adult casual players, will be permanently closed to all but the smallest children. Barriers between the ‘mini’ playing surfaces will discourage and inhibit their combined use by adolescents and adults. This effectively removes the best playing surface from the inventory of sports fields for most of the community. Is this an administratively sound response to a shortage of playing space?

What motivates the Mayor and Council to relentlessly pursue a policy of permanently enclosing more than 75 per cent of the open green space on the lower park to the detriment of the 95 per cent of Westmount taxpayers who do not play organized soccer?

If soccer is the true priority — and I speak as a former coach — why can't the soccer season be split between spring and fall, as in years past? In fact, the fall program has lapsed for lack of interest. So concentration of the schedule in the spring, and resulting wear and tear, has nothing to do with the fields, but is rather the choice of participants. The City could easily meet the demand by redistributing games between two seasons.

Because no graphic representation accompanies the web-site proposal, one is forced to envisage the configuration of the lower fields based on the dimensions given in the plan. Nonetheless it is obvious that the design, as proposed, will radically alter the layout of the park. Because both a senior (100m x 60m) and a junior (60 x 40) field are planned, the northern perimeter will have to be extended and the bike-path moved. Nowhere is it acknowledged that this will require the felling of a number of mature trees. Given the recent history of this Council, would anyone in Westmount trust the same group responsible for the chain-saw massacre in Sunnyside Park to carry out a radical redesign of the park without a great deal of oversight?

According to the Mayor, there will be no oversight, consultation or citizen input. In fact she has stated that the Council will entertain no more community consultation on the subject of the park and that the Council alone will decide and act. Fortunately, Westmount demerged, otherwise we might now be dealing with an autocratic and inflexible council.

Where does the obsession with restructuring the park originate? Who are those in the community asking for an exclusive sportsplex to replace what is, and has been for decades, a beautiful green pastoral area, open to all for spontaneous play and sports or a mere stroll? On the contrary, citizens overwhelmingly love their park and want to keep it as it is. In the 21st century we should be seeking an expansion of such resources, particularly in high-density urban settings. If the objection to the playing fields as currently constituted is their sometimes worn appearance due to their popularity, this can be managed. Indeed, the City’s own consultant characterized the drainage system as badly-maintained and of inappropriate design and a direct contributor to the state of the grass. Despite this, the grass is still in remarkably good shape and better care can only improve it. No one will object to temporary fencing during the spring, when the ground is wet.

Reference was made in the Westmount Examiner (Civic Alert, Sept. 27) to a ‘Parks and Green Space Master Plan’ at a meeting of the Safety, Utilities and Environment Committee. What is the status of this document that will indicate the long-term vision for Westmount’s parks? Should not all citizens have a role in defining that vision, in order to promote and protect our heritage?

Everyone has the right to use a public park.