Public outcry to keep public access to Laurie Park
Submitted (http://www.savelauriepark.ca/) - The perfect escape from the urban rush!!! This is how the government has advertised Laurie Park for many years. Well that is ALL about to change. At a meeting on January 14th, 2010, planners announced that the proposed changes and expansion of Laurie Park show NO consideration or plans for non-campers!!
So basically if you don’t have a tent, or are not pulling a trailer or driving an RV…. you are simply not welcomed at Laurie Park.
Forget about walking your dog, taking your children roller-skating or just heading there for a refreshing swim off the rocks to clear your head after a long days work……
The proposed plan indicates the park will be CLOSED for all of you!!!
The planners have only allowed 5 days for public feedback!
If you and your family value the beauty and serenity of this wonderful area, please put your comments in writing indicating that you want DAY USE of Laurie Park to continue to be included in the new development plans. Send copies as soon as possible to any and all of the people listed below….. also, please solicit your neighbours to contact these individuals as well.
We only have until January 22nd, 2010 to save this park.
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Name |
Position |
Business # |
Fax # |
Email Address |
|
John MacDonell |
Minister Natural Resources |
424-4037 or 860-6022 or 1-888-827-2212
|
424-0594 883-7627 |
or |
|
Peter Stoffer |
MP |
1-888-701-5557 |
861-4620 |
|
|
Trevor Franker |
Senior Parks Planner |
(902) 662-5064 |
(902) 662-2160
|
|
|
Darrell Dexter |
Premier |
424-6600 |
424-7648 |
|
|
Percy Paris |
MLA |
860-4004 |
860-0197 |
|
|
Peter Kelly |
Mayor |
490-4010 |
490-4012 |
Thank You in Advance for your efforts in saving the day use of Laurie Park!
First of all this land was donated by the Laurie’s and perhaps one should be thinking of how the Laurie’s would have liked to see the lands utilized… a little piece of preserved tranquility I am sure would please them and a combined picnic and camping park as well. It is a delightful park and is utilized year round even and especially during the closed period of Sept to May. It is a haven for walkers and cross country skiers alike with its rolling roadways and its beautiful canopy of trees.
There is not a day during the closed season that a line of parked cars from the gate to the road cannot be seen. This is a place where everyone who uses it are friendly to one and another and actually say Hello. Just because there is a common interest between the users … the beauty and tranquility of nature.
It would not be in anyones interest to cut the trees, level the roads, except for the owners of huge rigs who want to ‘camp’ in luxury. Let them go elsewhere
This is a quaint unique park in Nova Scotia and its natural features should be preserved and its use available to all… especially those who want to to keep in touch with nature.
Paul’s last paragraph said it all. It’s a wonderful park especially in the closed season. To do all they propose will destroy the unique features. There is absolutely no reason why all cannot be accommodated. Let the left hand side be developed for camping use (as it is already) and leave the right hand half available in it’s current state for day visitors.
The Local Scout Group use it regularly, especially in the close season, as a valuable resource for teaching the kids.
Barry Dalrymple’s face is plastered all over this website and The Laker, let’s see him now do something useful that doesn’t involve a ball field and ensure we don’t lose this valuable local resource for good.
Once again, I have to wonder how monies appear in a time of fiscal restraint, to re-develop something that has been a positive influence and neighborly gathering area for years… Laurie Park is what I am referring to. I have been connected to this park for years… as a child, introduced to it by my parents, and I in turn, my own children and their friends.The park has been a place for walks, contemplation, walking dogs, swimming, picnicing, tenting and sharing nature with our community and neighbors. Why does money – a scarce commodity these days if we believe what is in the paper and what our government officials tell us – need to be borrowed or somehow scraped up at the cost of concerns that are more pending to redesign something that renders it less accessible to the community not only in which it is located, but which has used it heavily since the Laurie’s granted it for use!?
If the government is anxious to spend money within the community, why does it not allocate the funds to needs readily identified by the community…. metro transit, computer upgrades and increased accessibility of same within the schools, dedicated seniors housing,a palliative care complex, installation of city water, funded lunch hour and after school programs, aides and other teacher/educational supports to service the assortment of all learning needs within the school population, subsidized costing on essential medical supplies such as colostomy supplies, oxygen, walkers, etc., transportation and parking concessions for those with chronic illnesses who travel daily to Halifax for treatments and pay $12/day to park, increased home support for the elderly….
There are real people that live in this community with real issues that could benefit from government funding that would help to strengthen our neighborhoods and collective spirits. Why spend money to destroy something that is working to accommodate a very select group of people who have camping options in other areas?
Another thought to my note above… Yarmouth would appreciate the 2.6 million slated for the upgrade of Laurie Park to save its town and tourism business!!! I think keeping a town on the map is more important than some toilets and ignoring Mr. Laurie’s directive that the park is to be kept in its natural state!
Christine Burris
There is nothing wrong with laurie park now. So why the need to change it for the worse?
Once again our tax dollars are used against us to limit our access and use of this great resource. We need to have more control of where our tax dollars are spent and limit how they are used against us. What was the agreement in place when the family who owned this land donated it to be use as a park was it to remove access by local residence. I think not.
This story reads like a bad dream! What is the thinking here???
How is it that local residents pay taxes, part of which will be used to maintain and upgrade Laurie Park but we won’t have use of it. It is horrible to think about the loss of the mature trees and the alterations to the natural landscape that are planned in order to make room for RVs on the site but it is absolutely unacceptable that this public park is going to be, in effect, turned into a private park.
Mr. Dalrymple, here is your moment to shine. Our previous councillor would have been screaming about this at the top of her lungs…..what have you got to say on the issue?
I have lived next to Laurie Park for 40 years. It was always my understanding the land was donated by the Laurie’s for people to enjoy the park not to keep the general public who enjoy the outdoors away. My heart dropped to hear that this was all happening. I drive by the park all the time and walk there with my two children. To me this is just crazy and it must be reconsidered. Thank you to the group who organized to tell people about it at Sobeys as I was not aware of all this happening. This meeting on January 22nd was not advertised very well, I wish I could have attended.
http://www.district2news.com/news/2010/01/16/community-residents-fighting-to-preserve-right-to-use-laurie-park/
If this story is accurate and our MLA Percy Paris is powerless to stop this process there is no reason that he should reamin as our MLA. I will not vote for him again if this plan goes forward……..plane and simple.
Councillor Barry Dalrymple is in the same position. He can’t even get information about a property tax assessed (LWF Area Rate) in his area from HRM staff even though he is the Councillor. I suspect that he will be just as ineffective in having this ill thought out plan for Laurie Park halted.
What do we elect for leaders in our communities? They are showing no leadership on this issue and have been silent like lambs led to the slaughter. If they were showing any leadership the plan would not have progressed this far in the first place.
I dont know of this has anything to do with Peter Stoffer since it is a provincial/municipal issue but you would think he would have some influence with his counterparts in the province that form the government.
It is amazing how unelected people (Natural Resources staff) can go against the will of the public wishes. Meanwhile our elected leaders simply watch in bewilderment. We shall see if Percy Paris or Barry Dalrymple are worth anywhere near the salaries they are collecting and get this stopped or will they simply say there is nothing they can do about it and pass the buck.
Perhaps I have a sentimental attachment to the place as my wife and I went for a walk through Laurie Park on our first date almost 40 years ago in the middle of August. Or perhaps it is because everywhere else I travel in Canada, the US and Europe there are walking trails and parks being preserved for public use that I find it difficult to understand the approach of Natural Resources in eliminating for public use a park in my own community.
Although it will likely be a waste of time I will be writing both Mr. Paris and Mr. Dalrymple. They have both proven to be weak leaders so far as both MLA and councillor for our district. Mr. Paris is more interested in looking good at photo opts while Mr. Dalrymple is more interested in controlling the use of the fomer LWF Firehall and controlling LWF Baseball than doing what their paid to do. I sincerly hope they prove me wrong this time.
I am a regular user of Laurie Park. I support many of the statements made here. I do believe that the current mixed-use nature of the Park is reasonable and should be maintained. Could the park be made better for all concerned??? YES! Is it reasonable to spend a couple of million on those betterments at this time of our financial plight??? NO!!!
One of the ways the park could be made better is to improve the maintence of the park during the 10 months the “ campers” are not there. And that does not require big bucks!!
Once again we have bureaucrats charging ahead, out of touch with the reality of the situation, and our political “leaders” appear incapable of doing anything to bring about change. Our “leaders” are so busy conditioning us for tax increases; they fail to provide the direction that could save us big bucks. Unfortunately Mr. Paris who was very vocal before the election has become invisible and silent since the election. Everyone reaches a point where they get in over their head. I am starting to wonder if Mr. Paris and the NDP government as a whole have reached that point!
I have moved to Wellington approximately three years ago and found this pleasant park to take my dog for a walk. As people are also encouraged to do some activity, I find myself in the park everyday getting my exercise in as well. I also see runners and kids on bikes there, so where do we go now. Where else is there to go to keep up the activity and enjoy the scenery?.
In the time I have been going here I have never seen the camp full. Fix the washrooms, add showers
encourage the people to come before you go digging. Once the park can be fill with campers, THEN expand the park. I won’t be able to see the friends I made there, enjoy their dogs and meet other people. It is the best place to meet friendly people.
I used to walk the highway while cars going flying by, but I guess I have to resort back to this, meet my friends on the corners and HOPE we do not get hit. WE WANT OUR PARK THE WAY IT IS. Why can’t our MLA stop still. Isn’t this one reason how to help the community.
Laurie Park is a Provincial Park owned by the people of this province. All lands or parks in this Province owned by the people should be accessable by the residents.
This park is well used by the local residents as well as campers. It’s a wonderful place to get much needed exercise with families all year around. In summer you can swim, kayak and canoe, picnic, and make frineds. It’s a way of life in the area. The park provides a place where people can enjoy the great outdoors in a time when more exercise is badly needed and more sub-divisions are being built taking away accessable land and providing more people to use the park.
Preventing access to the park to local residents would be a big injustice.
Let’s hope that those in the position to make decisions or influence decision makers will make every effort to ensure continued public access to this beautiful park. In a time when we are trying to increase recreational facilities, this seems to be taking a step backward. Locals have used this park for as long as people have lived in this area and I would think the Laurie Family would want to see the public continue using it.
I am not going to jump to any conclusions. I am going to watch and wait and see what my elected politicians do before I go on the attack or issue any praise. I am going to give each of them the chance to do what they think is right. What they think is right will tell me a lot about them. Are they workers who fight for what is right or would they rather only take on the easy challenges and the ones that get them a fast pat on the back? Hopefully Mr. Paris listens to what the people in this community are saying about Laurie Park and he does not fool himself into thinking this is one that will be forgotten or swept under the rug come election time. Same goes for Mr. Dalrymple and the LWF ratepayers mess. Neither one of those situations are an easy fix and so I guess the time has arrived for both of the people I voted for to show me what they are really made of. Will they dig in and do what is right for the majority of us in these communities or will they sit by and do nothing? Will they jump into these messes with both feet or will they pass the buck, bury their heads and leave us to suck it up? Before the elections I heard both of these men telling how they would listen to their constituents and fight for what was best for these communities, I guess now’s their chance.
We have been asked by the planners at the public session held Jan14 to provide our comments back to them by Jan 22. I encourage you to send your comments to those listed on the http://www.savelauriepark.ca website so that our elected officials know your feelings on the prososed development and what you want them to take into consideration.
To those of you who are suggesting that Councillor Dalrymple is responsible for the decision making of the Minister of Natural Resources John MacDonnel , Minister Percy Paris and the
NDP governmwent regarding the plans for Laurie Park should be aware that Barry does not support banning public access at Laurie Park ; however the decision is provincial in jurisdiction..
I would also point out that the action to put in place a set of bylaws at the LWF was supported and promoted from the beginning to provide accountability at the LWF. I WOULD POINT OUT ALSO THAT THOUSE OF YOU WHO ARE KNOCKING HIM CAN HELP BY ATTENDING THE ANNUAL MEETING AND SUPPORTING THOSE OF US WHO ARE TRYING TO CLEAN THINGS UP.
The comments of Mr. Harold Carroll, Director of Parks, Dept. of Natural Resources to the press have been interesting and point up the mindset of governments to public land – it is a resource to be exploited.
For example, in the Davene Jeffery article today he said the park is after all a “camping park”. I expect that Col. Laurie, who donated this land to the province would be surprised to hear that. I have read over his deed granting this land to the province and he provided it “to develop the said lands as a Park for the use and benefit of the public”. The deed says the province accepted it on that basis and agreed to do just that.
It has been used for both a camping and a daily visitor/picnic park and recreational multi uses since then.
Just when and by what authority did it become exclusively a “camping park” ? When did Mr. Laurie’s “the public” become only campers from outside HRM, the province or even the country ? Nor does it say anywhere in the Laurie grant that this park was to become an instrument of economic stimulus or tourist development. It is inconceivable that Mr. Laurie would have wanted massive diesel pusher motor homes accommodated here.
This park has been in use for fifty years. Fifty years ago Grand Lake was something of a wilderness and much more rural than suburban. It was probably a good place for an exclusively camping park. That has changed with the growth and development of this area with suburban housing. There probably was very little daily walking traffic in the park originally because the people were not here to use it and Nova Scotians were not as active, into walking and children’s outings as they are today in suburban areas.
The time when this piece of ground was appropriate for a caravan camping park has past. From a planning point of view, the park is now too close to development. Mr. Carroll’s department and that of Mr. Paris (Tourism and Rural Development) are properly concerned that there are not enough camping facilities in HRM and it is perhaps thought that such a facility here would bring some economic activity to HRM because it is close.
But why should this department have the exclusive right to determine what this public asset should be used for ? Generally, again on pure planning principals, a public recreational asset should be used to give the maximum use to the maximum number of people. This is exactly what has happened up until now – both walker and camper have the use of it. That is, to the extent that campers were interested in coming here (I gather that the campers do not use it anywhere near to capacity). I can almost hear Mr. Carroll saying that indeed that is what he intends to cure by upgrading the facilities – greatly increase vehicular traffic into the park. If not, why would one bother to put federal stimulus money into it at all ?
There can be no question that the overwhelming use of this park has been the year round daily visitors. Making it exclusively for campers, by either legislating the pedestrains out or simply displacing them with the camping traffic, goes against this maximum use principle. By the way, Mr. Carroll is to be commend for his forthright admission that the two uses in the upgraded park would simply be incompatible – I could not agree more.
I expect that the people feel that the government has a very blinkered view of this park’s true value. It sees it as an resource under it’s purview which should be used to enhance the park system, bring it into the modern era and provide some economic stimulus. It is the same old mindset – we have to be intrusive, spend money on it and changed it to make it something. But it already is something – something so very special and the most used facility in the entire area exactly because it is undeveloped.
Nobody has ever had a problem with sitting on a rock and enjoying nature in this park. It is exactly this naturalistic use that people over whelming prize in this pristine setting – it has an almost spiritual value. No doubt this is why the Sisters of Charity have their retreat next door.
The park is not “tired” and it amazes me that the department’s vision of the thing is so simplistic and limited. What makes a park is the trees, rocks and water. No amount of lumber, pipes and concrete will improved it.
Will Nova Scotia’s government be forever unsophisticated and behinds the times on issues like this ?
I agree with everything Stephen Kent has clearly stated above and he has expressed my views exactly!
I sincerely hope he has forwarded this message onto the appropriate decision makers listed above, especially Harold Carroll as my emailed views on this topic to John MacDonell were redirected to Harold Carroll (carrolhe@gov.ns.ca).
Comments are now closed:
http://www.district2news.com/news/2010/01/19/laurie-park-update-minister-says-day-use-will-remain/