The Ginter’s Green Forever community group is calling on city council to change the city’s official community plan (OCP) to protect Ginter’s Meadow park.
The group is scheduled to appear before city council on Aug. 15, to ask council to amend the OCP and eliminate two proposed road expansions. Under the current OCP, the city’s long-term plans call for Massey Drive to be extended southwest through the park to Tyner Boulevard, and Foothills Boulevard would be extended southeast to Ferry Avenue.
In a statement issued on Monday, Ginter’s Green Forever director Jenn Matthews said both road extensions would go right through Ginter’s Meadow, which is used by hundreds of dog walkers, joggers, cyclists, horse riders and others each day.
“Adding four lanes of traffic through Ginter's will permanently destroy the existing park,” Matthews said. “The OCP needs to be updated to recognize, value and protect existing greenspace and the forest for future generations to enjoy.”
The group intends to submit a petition, with more than 3,000 signatures, to city council calling on the city to update the OCP to protect existing greenspaces and urban forests; engage in a community consultation process about how and if the greenspace around Ginter’s should be developed; and for the city to conduct a hydro-geotechnical survey of the Cranbrook Hill escarpment from Tyner Boulevard to Foothills Boulevard to estimate the impact of development on the western edge of the escarpment above the park.
“The support for protecting Ginter’s and surrounding area has been huge,” Matthews said.
Matthews urged members of the public to attend the city council meeting on Aug. 15 at 6 p.m. to show their support for saving the park.
‘It’s a great opportunity to be heard and show council that people care about existing parks,” she said. “Parks need green space around them – not more paved roads.”
Currently two lots with a combined 161 acres bordering Ginter’s Meadow and UNBC are listed for sale for $9.95 million. The listing advertises the land as “an excellent opportunity for a large-scale development in a fast growing residential and post secondary educational neighborhood.”
Ginter’s Green Forever director James Steidle said sacrificing parkland for growth isn’t a good model for developing the city.
““The city’s vision for development around Ginter's is out of touch with future challenges. The model of development is expensive and bad for the environment,” he said. “Prince George is growing quickly and that makes the preservation of green space now and for future generations vital. Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.”
