Grand Lake (D2N) – Approximately 75 people showed up for a meeting held Jan. 14 at the Grand Lake Community Centre. The Public Information Meeting was... Full Article
Grand Lake (D2N) – Approximately 75 people showed up for a meeting held Jan. 14 at the Grand Lake Community Centre. The Public Information Meeting was held to discuss the proposed plan to revamp Laurie Park; re-development of the provincial park is expected to begin in early 2010.
According to a number of people who attended the information session, during the meeting it was revealed that the NS Department of Natural Resources – the administrators of the provincial parks program – were given $5M in stimulus funds to upgrade Parks – Laurie Park was designated as one of the parks up for re-development. People who attended the meeting say the staff on hand provided a good overview of the park and highlighted their key objectives in re-development plans for Laurie Park, and there were several poster-size visual plans on display that outlined the development plans for the park.
There appeared to be general consensus among residents attending the information session, that upgrading the facilities and parking facilities, and modernizing the park and bringing it up to some level of standard, was a welcomed initiative.
Unfortunately, that is where the good news ends, says one group of concerned residents. The upset citizens say when planners drew up their plans for an Amphitheatre, restricted access to the coastline, increased RV and trailer sites, and limited tenting area, they also included NO DAY USE ACCESS in their proposal. What that actually means, says the group, is that non campers will no longer be able to take their children for a walk, walk their pet, or just go for a stroll and have a sit by the lake in the park during the summer months.
“Apparently, use of the park by local residents wasn’t a consideration in the current re-development plans,” said one member of the group who is trying to stop the re-development of the park as planned, based upon the plans presently proposed.
In October, District 2 News spoke with the Director of Parks for the Department of Natural Resources, Harold Carroll, who confirmed Laurie Park was one of four Nova Scotia parks approved for work (Article Here). “It is going to be re-developed in its entirety,” said Carroll at that time. He explained the park had to be brought up to today’s standards so it could accommodate the current equipment being used by campers.
According to residents who attended the Jan.14 information session, the news that Laurie Park will not be accessible to locals for picnics or walks during the summer months, was not well received by most people who were at the meeting.
“I have been a resident in the Fletcher’s Lake/Wellington area for 40 years and our family has grown up using Laurie Park for walking, swimming, biking, picnicking, birthday parties, family gatherings,” said Cindy Patriquin. “My children swim at Big Head every summer. This is their favourite place to go swimming. We do have access to Lake Fletcher and do boat on this lake, but most of the time Karly, Blaine, and Chad will go with friends to Laurie Park to jump off Big Head and go swimming. It is a tradition every spring to see who will be the first to jump off Big Head.”
Patriquin said the news about the park has upset her son and many of his friends. “Chad, 18, is our youngest, and he was very upset to hear that they may not have access to Laurie Park for swimming. I know he will be on Facebook and will get his friends involved in Saving Laurie Park!”
Patriquin said the park holds a lot of memories for her family. “When Darrell and I were dating we spent lots of time at Laurie Park, swimming, jumping off Big Head, and waxing either his Road Runner or my Camaro.”
Patriquin said she hopes those who are responsible for making the proposed changes will listen to what local residents and regular park users have to say before taking any official steps, before they begin to cut down the trees and remodel the park. “There are endless memories connected to such a great park,” she said, “it would be a terrible thing for our family and hundreds of other families not to have access to Laurie Park.”
Upset residents say they have been advised by the folks on hand at the meeting (MLA Percy Paris, HRM Councillor Barry Dalrymple) and the NS Dept. of Natural Resources staff, that if people want to try to save their park, everyone must submit their comments and concerns in writing by Jan. 22.
Local seniors have also expressed sadness over the possibility of losing the simple pleasures they now enjoy at Laurie Park. “They told us we will still have Oakfield Park to use during the summer months,” said Fletcher’s Lake resident Judy Jones, but according to seniors there are a number of problems with that suggestion. Many of the over 65 crowd expressed their concerns, saying they are unable to walk the longer distance that would be required of them if they had to use Oakfield Park. “At Laurie Park, they can drive in, all the way to the lake if need be. To get close enough to sit by the lake at the Oakfield Park requires a person to walk a much longer distance,” said Jones. “And the terrain that a person has to walk over to get to the lake via Oakfield Park is a lot more difficult to walk on than the paved roadways at Laurie Park. There, seniors can drive in, park beside the water, and enjoy a picnic, the beauty of the lake and the surrounding trees, without having to struggle to get there and with a lesser chance they will fall.”
“I think it is great that they want to upgrade the park,” said Patriquin, “but do it so the community has access to the paved trails and swimming. I do not agree with making it available for campers only. That is not what the park is for. Washroom facilities, a canteen, upgrading the camping area so trailers can get access would be nice, but do not take over the walking trails and the great swimming on Grand Lake.” Patriquin had a suggestion for Oakfield Park. “Take the rest of the money and make Oakfield Park a campers delight,” she said.
Any residents interested in seeing Laurie Park remain accessible to the local public during the summer months are encouraged to write their concerns in an email and send it to their local politicians (contact information here), and to the Department of Natural Resources.
Curran said she does not understand the logic behind the current plan being proposed for the local provincial park. “Laurie Park has an approximately 40% occupancy rate for campers; the majority of these campers are from elsewhere,” said Curran. “Why take the gem of this area from the people who use it most, to facilitate those from away who could easily travel a few miles further down the road and camp at Shubie Park? Or go to Dollar Lake with their 119 woodland campsites? 40% occupancy rate for three months of the year, as opposed to perpetual use for 365 days a year of residents? Is this the best use of several million dollars of tax payer’s money?”
“Politicians come and go, but residents are the heart of our Community,” said Patriquin. “It is time to start opening our eyes and ears to keep what is ours! We need to get proactive. Health and Promotion are trying to encourage us to get out and be active! Here the government is, taking away a place where there are constantly people walking, skiing, skateboarding, roller blading, biking, and SWIMMING!”
“Your assistance is NEEDED,” says the group – Friends of Laurie Park. “The 65 acres for Laurie Park was donated for the use of residents throughout the local community — we need to ensure it remains accessible for OUR COMMUNITY.”
This sounds like the people who run our parks either A) have no idea what they are doing. B) Don’t research the parks history before DESTROYING THEM. C) Don’t give a $#!t about the towns they service.
I have camped at the park for many years, first with a tent and now with our Motorhome, over the years I have noticed alot of the day sites up by the office empty and thought they would make good campsites, I welcome the upgrades, mostly the washrooms and showers, but to deny people the access to the lake is just wrong, there is enough room for all, and no fee should be charged!!!! The government has dropped the ball in other ways with the provincial campgrounds , lets hope they get this one right!!!. I say KEEP THE LAKE OPEN TO FREE DAY USE!!!!
What I have been able to figure out so far is not that Percy Paris has no power to stop this project, he is the minister PUSHING IT. He is Minister of Tourism and Rural Development (stimulus). He and John MacDonell, also from our area and Minister of Natural Resources (parks), are pushing this because some federal stimulus money fell into their hands and the only way they can keep the money is to redevelop the park in to show they are stimulating economic and tourist activity, which is normally their legitimate responsibility.
They actually think they will be applauded by residents for bringing money and economic stimulus into the area (and incidently destroying our park).
They have given us just five days, starting Thursday 14 January, to have our say. They and there staff are clearly trying to rush and sneak this by us.
This park is THE central facility to our community here in Grand Lake and widely used by many others in HRM. This project is devastating news.
THESE POLITICIANS NEED TO HEAR FROM US NOW !
Please go to: http://WWW.savelauriepark.ca for more information.
Joanne you say a name is required to leave a comment as it should be.
Those not leaving full names should not be published, particularly if they are criticizing others. An interested reader is not a name.
Also there has been a lot of response to this discussion that is now in two different articles. The headline above is very misleading.
It is very obvious to me that there needs to be another meeting on this whole issue as not everyone was aware of the original meeting, or was able to attend that particular meeting.
Although this Park is under a provincial portfolio, it should be indeed the people of the area that ensure this gem of a park is not spoiled and that it it is used for the the purposes originally granted. I would say that our councillor and other political leaders in NS should be listening to what the people of the area are saying and doing whatever they can to represent their constituents.
Paul, I would love if people used their actual names but technically (in the computers eyes) a name is a name. We could remove comments (manually) after the comments are made, but this would only lead to more complaints from people that we “removed their comment”.
We want community involvement and all we can do is ask that people use their real names, or better yet, use their facebook login as proof of who they are.
Our first article was actually post of submitted information by a group of people fighting the changes.
After we posted that submission, I made the necessary connections to write this article.
I am also working on getting feedback from the DNR for an updated article to go out early this week.
A note to all readers that you can currently sign a petition at the gate to Laurie Park as well as Sobeys.
Go to http://www.savelauriepark.ca to see a picture of the conceptual drawing of the plans for Laurie Park that was presented at the public meetig on January 14th. It can alos be found on the Facebook group Save Laurie Park
Susan
Thank you for posting the link to the conceptual drawings proposed for Laurie Park.
Paul
Not everyone is comfortable using their names and absent any malice it is wirhtwhile to hear even from people that might normally be too intimidated to speak publically. My opinion olnly.
Two things;
- I’ve used this park since I was a young boy for swiming, walking, and fishing. It’s a wonderful small park where lots of people enjoy many activities and it would be a crying shame to restrict this to other generations.
- And to use our own tax dollars to change a free access natural recreation area to a only user pay access?? WHAT!! Remind me of what the improvement is??
Ok, so having campers pay to stay is not a new thing however haveing no access unless your a camper is just wrong. I’m a fisherman whom spent amny hours fishing form the shores of this park as a youngster. Older in life I now have a boat and can range anywhere on the lake, But…what about today’s youngsters? How will they acess the water to enjoy this time honoured tradition. With increasing development around the lake acess to the shore is being restricted and now to restrick it even further? Wow!!
I think this needs a rethink folks.
Cheers,
Jeff
I wonder if you have ever tried to take your kids or you dog for a swim on a sunny afternoon. As it stands now, much of local lake front access is already privately owned. It is only at provincial parks that those not so fortunate to own lake frontage can still find a place to “jump in” and enjoy an afternoon of natures fun. Now that option is being threatened as well.
Are we all supposed to go to Albro Lake (before that water becomes too contaminated for the season) in order to enjoy a simple outing with our children and pets? That appears to be one of the few option available, pity really considering how many lakes we will have to pass in order to get there. Daily public access for area residents MUST NOT BE DENIED AT LAURIE PARK. It is a provincial park and should be available to the people.
I grew up in Windsor Junction and have been using the park my whole life. My wife and I have four young children and we take them to Laurie Park at least once a week (yes in the winter as well!). We walk, swim, cycle, picnic and just enjoy the beautiful scenery. The plan for the park is shocking. I am appalled at the redevelopment plans and dissapointed that our representatives would even consider removing public access to the park. I have contacted Mr Dexter, Mr Paris, Mr Dalrymple, Mr Stoffer and the other individuals whose contact information is listed at http://www.savelauriepark.ca asking them to reconsider this plan.
Let’s remind these folks who put them in office. Let them know how you feel about what they want to do to our park. The outcome of this situation will certainly have a strong influence on my decision next time an election roles around!
can we get some RSS on this site?
Ian, http://www.district2news.com/feed/
I sent an email to Mr. MacDonnell, and received a very unsettling response. I wonder if our letter writing will be in vain? Less than five days to the deadline, and no one wants to listen?? I urge and encourage readers to write letters and make themselves heard
sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 1:41 PM
To: ‘John MacDonell’
Subject: RE: Laurie Park
Hello – I do not feel comfortable with your response. I have already written to Mr. Harold Carroll and will surely follow-up with him. At the same time, I feel it is a matter deserving of Mr. MacDonnell’s attention as well. Please ensure he is aware of my communities concerns, and I trust he shares some portion of our concern, and will not be passing the buck.
Thank you,
Lynne
—–Original Message—–
From: John MacDonell [mailto:john.macdonell@ns.sympatico.ca]
Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 1:34 PM
To: Lynne Cooper
Subject: Re: Laurie Park
Dear Ms. Cooper,
Thank you for the email. Mr. MacDonell has asked that all comments be sent to Mr. Harold Carroll, Executive Director of Parks, for his information and input. Mr. Carroll’s email is carrolhe@gov.ns.ca
Regards,
Randall Leighton
Constituency Assistant
Lynne Cooper wrote:
>
> Dear John:
>
> I am aware of the plans to upgrade Laurie Park to an exclusively
> Tenting and RV campground and wish to contribute my thoughts, prior to
> a final decision. .
>
> I wonder if you have ever tried to take your kids or you dog for a
> swim on a sunny afternoon. As it stands now, those who can afford it –
> already own access to most of the swimmable lake frontage around here.
> It is only at provincial parks that those not so fortunate to own lake
> frontage can still find a place to “jump in” and enjoy an afternoon of
> natures fun. Now that option is being threatened as well.
>
> Are we all supposed to go to Albro Lake (before that water becomes too
> contaminated for the season) in order to enjoy a simple outing with
> our children and pets? That appears to be the closest option
> available, pity really considering how many lakes I will have to pass
> in order to get there. Please do not deny daily public access to the
> area residents. It is a provincial park and should be available to the
> people.
>
> Lynne
As a ‘Friends of Laurie Park’ we encourage everyone to voice their concerns in writing Mr. Stoffer, Mr. Dexter, Mr. Paris, Mr. MacDonell and Mr. Carroll. We are not against improvements to the park, but believe with only a 35%-40% camper occupancy rate it doesn’t warrant utilizing the entire footprint of the park, let’s continue to share as has been done for many decades.
Continue your support ……
For Lynne Cooper. Do you know if Mr. MacDonell could have been asking us to send our letters to Mr. Carroll as well as to himself, or do you think what Mr. MacDonell was really saying was not to bother to send any letters to him at all and only to Mr. Carroll? If that is what is going on then we are beating our heads against a brick wall.
The NDP Government is supposed to be champions for protecting the Environment, not destroying it. Converting a jewel of a provincial park, with a dense forest canopy, into a park for RV’s is ludicrous.
If people need more than a tent, or even a tent trailer to go camping, then go park at Walmart; as they obviously have no real interest in getting back to nature.
Being a new inexperienced government, I was expecting a few zingers from the NDP, but not something that would effect me so close to home. Mr. Dexter, spend a few bucks to upgrade the Parks washrooms, and spend the rest on education or somewhere where it will do the most good.
Laurie Park is one of the reasons we moved into the area. We are looking forward to taking our 2 year old son to this park over the next 10 or so years. I think things are fine the way they are, but if it can stay the way it is we need some sort of compromise. Day use for residents for walking and swimming is a must, do we really need big RVs in the park?
The response that that Lynn Cooper received from Mr. MacDonnell is a sign of ignorance. Mr. Paris’ has chosen to ignore the citizens he promised to represent. That is a disgusting turn of events, and betrays the trust we placed in him.
Writing to an a low level civil servant achieves nothing. We gave both Mr. MacDonnell and Mr. Paris an opportunity to correspond to us. Both chose not to. Do not lower yourselves to Mr. MacDonnell’s brush off.
In these situation you write to the chief Honcho– Mr Dexter. And now we have 2 issues– the lack of representation we are receiving, especially from Mr. Paris and the destruction of a community asset.
Maybe if Mr. Dexter gets frustrated with these distractions he can get his cabinet minister focused on what is important–their constituents.
hmmm… I’m equally as outraged as all who frequent the park on a regular basis. Perhaps we can provide suggestions for the spending to make positive upgrades that benefit the general public as well as campers and the government.
How about canoe, paddle boat and kayak rentals with new docks? (like those provided in Kedji)
There is an update now:
http://www.district2news.com/news/2010/01/19/laurie-park-update-minister-says-day-use-will-remain/