Lloydminster resident Paul Richer voiced his opposition to the location of the Aurora neighbourhood play park in council chambers on Monday. Council, however, approved the proposed site supported by area residents with Councillor Jason Whiting voting against the chosen site over future traffic concerns raised by Richer’s presentation. Geoff Lee Meridian Source
Families in the Aurora neighbourhood on the Saskatchewan side of the city will be able to enjoy the city’s first all-inclusive playground and splash park on schedule.
Council approved a bylaw on Monday to rezone a residential lot near the traffic circle at 31 Street and 41 Ave. for the playground project, with construction to begin soon.
“The developer needs to finish the plans and bring those forward to the planning department. I can say they are going to get moving on it fairly soon,” said Lloydminster Mayor Gerald Aalbers.
The playground is expected to be 100 per cent up and running by the spring of 2024 with only landscaping left to do.
Aalbers spoke with a sense of relief following a public hearing presentation from resident Paul Richer, who brought concerns against the location to council.
He wanted council to consider utilizing green space west of the proposed playground site.
Richer says when he saw the plans, it didn’t make sense to him for the city to give up the revenue from a lot to place a playground next to a potentially busy roundabout.
“I drove it and I noticed there was existing greens space that we all pay for that’s already right behind the lot,” said Richer.
“I’m saying put the playground right there, just a few hundred metres away on an existing green space that already has paved walkways.”
Richer thinks the park would be too close to the traffic circle and cited a British Columbia study suggesting these intersections increase the risk of collisions involving pedestrians and cyclists.
He also told council whoever buys the lot beside the proposed playground would only be 1.5 metres away from the property, as well as the noise it would generate.
Richer notes he lives near a park on the other side of the city and can hear conversations from it.
“I can’t imagine anyone wanting to live next door,” he said.
Councillor Jason Whiting picked up on Richer’s concerns and voted against the bylaw while supporting the need for a park in Aurora.
“I’m excited for the park. I’m excited for the playground and all that is going in that area. I just had concerns about whether or not we are picking the right spot,” said Whiting.
An issue for him about the location is the potential increase in traffic as the neighbourhood grows.
“It may be good for today, but I don’t know about 20 years from now,” said Whiting.
He went on to state, “Hopefully, this will encourage others to buy and bring people in that Aurora park.”
The project is a funding partnership involving the city, Midwest Family Connections and Federated Co-operatives Ltd’s Community Spaces program.
Several residents of Aurora with young children submitted letters of support for the new playground after learning council had scheduled a public hearing.
In her letter, Aurora’s Courtney Lindsay wrote, “Hello, I am a resident of the Aurora community and am in complete favour of the park being built!
“We have two children that would love this. Please take this into consideration as I heard there was a petition against it.”
Another resident, McFadyen Sears, noted, “I have always loved that we live in a young and vibrant area of Lloydminster with lots of children the same ages to play with – this would be such a blessing to many children and major loss if it was taken away.”
Several councillors declared the park to be a slam dunk project, but Richer’s presentation led to some sober second thoughts about its location.
“The challenge we have is where is the ideal place,” said Aalbers.
He said moving the site to the west as Richer suggested would cost more than the loss of revenue from the intended lot with the cost of added services required to pull that off.
“It’s always challenging for council to determine where the best place is. We look to administration for advice and direction,” said Aalbers.
“There was a great deal of controversy, but the questions were answered and council made the decision at the end of the day.”
