Letters to the editor

The grass was never greener

To the editor:

I write to support Aldo Vesnaver's letter 'Don't Fence the Park' in last week's Examiner. Every resident who loves Westmount Park will agree with the reasons he gave to keep the playing fields as they are and have been for decades.

In September, the grass in the soccer fields have not looked so green in many years due to the considerable rain we've had this summer. I did however notice two brown patches at the goalposts when I cycled past the field at Sherbrooke and Melville one early morning. Returning an hour later, I was stunned to see the whole field stripped naked and workmen were laying rolls and rolls of new turf. Was this necessary? Why not only replace the small area of worn turf?

In a letter to the Examiner in the summer, I had pointed out that City Council's 'tender-loving-care' for the soccer fields borders on the pathological. The above is one instance of City Council's constant preoccupation with soccer field grass.

Grass needs at least two years to take root. Grass is very resilient. Given a little rain, a brown patch would recover quickly. Uprooted several times a year (as the fields in Westmount Park are) the roots never have a chance to go deep enough in the soil to nourish the leaves. In addition to the frequent returfing, frequent mowing with heavy machines (the size of city buses) fertilizing with chemicals and last but not least, excessive watering by sprinklers (even during or after rain) completes the abuse of our soccer fields by City Council.

In contrast, the grass (noticeably neglected and left on its own) in the much more heavily used soccer/baseball field at Westmount High School Athletic Grounds is doing very well. Will City Council please take note of my comment?

It's about time the coin dropped.

Stephen Chin

Sherbrooke Street



Public input on park proposals not welcome

To the editor:

Municipal authorities have recently posted an ominous plan for Westmount Park on the City’s website: “Westmount’s Playing Fields: Developing an All ‘Natural Turf’ Strategy” (see www.westmount.org).

The plan not only proposes a fenced specialty sports area to enclose 75 per cent of the present open space in the southern fields of Westmount Park; it also restricts the students of Westmount Park School and the general public to 25 per cent or less of the remaining area, with no guarantee that this unfenced area will be grass. The large size of the specialty area will inevitably mean shifting the bike path north, felling trees, and a new parking lot within or close to the existing Park.

In two recent Council meetings, Mayor Karin Marks has: 1) refused all further consultation on Westmount Park, and 2) declined categorically to re-affirm the vocation of all existing Westmount Parks. This is particularly unsettling because of recent City actions in Upper Westmount. At the public planning consultation on Sept. 24, the well-known Westmount architect Bruce Anderson criticized the City’s maintenance of its own parks, observing that “the City has dropped the ball with respect to the Sunnyside Park,” and “the natural urban forest hasn’t been maintained from the summit right down to Sunnyside” (Examiner, Sept. 27). What then awaits Westmount Park down below?

Council intends to vote on the park strategy on Oct. 22, so the official refusal to listen forecloses public input in these coming weeks, probably the most important moment in the park’s history since Council in 1910 purchased the southern fields “for the purpose of a public park.”

Save The Park! Sauvons le parc! is carrying out its own consulting poll of the 1,030 people who have signed our petition www.savewestmountpark.com). We are also now asking all Westmounters to speak out about their parks and to register their views by going to the 'Contact Us' box on our web site. Another, alternative place to make one’s views known is the newly created citizens’ forum established by Westmount resident Andy Froncioni – westmountwatch.org – which has been actively promoting discussion of the City’s 'strategy' plan. Visiting either site is a way to make our voices heard – before Oct. 22.

Patrick Barnard

Melville Avenue

Member of Save the Park! Sauvons le parc!