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#301 spanky123

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Posted 21 November 2015 - 03:25 PM

A Facebook post:

 

 

OK, so if we already have an urban place where people can tent, why were we considering Topaz Park?

 

Everyone driving in or out of Victoria would see the tents at Topaz. Lots more public pressure having the tent city there.



#302 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 21 November 2015 - 03:28 PM

Everyone driving in or out of Victoria would see the tents at Topaz. Lots more public pressure having the tent city there.

 

I do not thinks that's true, where they were planning to put them.  In the tennis courts.

 

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#303 Mike K.

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Posted 11 April 2016 - 08:29 AM

Topaz-Park-tennis-courts.jpg

 

VV EXCLUSIVE: Protestor thwarts City of Victoria's plan to dig up Topaz Park's tennis courts

By Mike Kozakowski

 

VibrantVictoria has learned that the City of Victoria’s latest plans for Topaz Park have once again sidestepped the public process.

 

In the summer of 2015 and only half a year into her term, Mayor Lisa Helps announced that a tent city at the popular urban green space was “happening” despite a lack of community consultation. Following protests and rallies organized by residents who felt the presence of such an operation would negatively affect their neighbourhood and livability, City officials backed down.

 

Fast forwarding nine months, recent activity at Topaz Park has revealed that the municipality is setting up for a second run at reconfiguring a portion of the park's southeast area without consultation with nearby residents.

 

Last week City of Victoria crews arrived on Glasgow Avenue with a directive to remove the tennis courts situated near the intersection of Glasgow and Topaz avenues, which happens to be near the site formerly envisioned for a tent city. The community association and nearby residents were caught off guard by the City's plans, but that did not stop one nearby resident from taking matters into her own hands.

 

The individual, who will remain unnamed for the purposes of this post, was upset over the City of Victoria’s lack of community consultation — once again — and turned to an act of non-violent civil disobedience.

 

With the entrance to the tennis courts blocked by the lone protestor, City crews called police after attempts were made to have the woman removed from the scene. Once police arrived, it was determined that the most prudent course of action would be to cease the operation, consult with City officials, and plan a community information session to discuss the City’s agenda with the public.

 

It remains unclear what the City of Victoria’s issue is with the tennis courts. The plan for the land, according to crews, was to rip up the courts and lay sod in their place. Only once that process was completed would City officials consult the community to discuss the future of the site.

 

Tensions remain high between residents living near Topaz Park and the City of Victoria following last year’s tent city plans. It should come as no surprise that work undertaken at the park, without consultation, is seen as highly suspect and insensitive to the community considering the fall-out from last year’s political showdown.

 

A meeting between the City of Victoria and the Hillside-Quadra Community Association is planned for May 2nd. VibrantVictoria will keep monitoring this story and provide updates as they are made available.

 

© 2016. All rights reserved.


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#304 Sparky

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Posted 11 April 2016 - 08:43 AM

Kudos to this lady that stood up and waited for the police to arrive.


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#305 Nparker

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Posted 11 April 2016 - 09:02 AM

Kudos to this lady that stood up and waited for the police to arrive.

If only someone could have done this at the court house park.



#306 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 11 April 2016 - 09:09 AM

Below is a message from Thomas Soulliere, Director of Parks and Recreation

 
 

Hillside-Quadra Neighbourhood Residents and Topaz Park Users:
 
The purpose of this note is to provide an update on a project relating to the area currently occupied by the tennis courts in Topaz Park.
 
You likely received an email last week describing a plan to remove the courts which have been closed for the past few years, in order to re-open the space for general use.  The note also referenced an opportunity for discussions with the City about the future potential for tennis courts (and other amenities in the park) via consultations on an overall Parks Master Plan in the coming months.  The City team identified a relatively short window of time to complete the removal of the existing fencing and asphalt, which would allow for a new turf area to be planted prior to the busy summer period.  Unfortunately, the advance communication about this was rushed and did not provide an opportunity for dialogue with the neighbourhood. This was articulated to me by residents and members of the neighbourhood association yesterday.
 
As of Tuesday April 5th, the site work has been put on hold as we prepare to attend the next meeting of the neighbourhood association Monday May 2nd at the Quadra Village Community Centre (7pm), where City staff will seek to your input about how the area occupied by the courts could be re-purposed. One of the goals is to obtain feedback that will inform a plan for this space for the immediate future, within the financial capacity of the current budget.
 
We understand there has been great interest in seeing the tennis courts replaced in recent years and apologize on behalf of the City team that the facility was allowed to deteriorate to the point of being unusable.  Tennis is a hugely popular sport in this region and developing a plan to maintain quality playing surfaces is now a priority project for our team. These particular courts are more than 40 years old and the asphalt and sub-surface have failed while a significant tree root system has developed over time.  This means that the existing asphalt and foundation will need to be removed regardless of the future use of the area.
 
Myself and others from our Parks and Recreation team look forward to meeting with you and hearing your thoughts about the opportunities you see for this area of TopazPark. We certainly appreciate that the initial steps in this project did not meet expectations and we will learn from this experience in order to make the balance of this initiative as well as future ones more successful.
 
 
Sincerely,
 
Thomas Soulliere
Director
Parks, Recreation and Facilities
City of Victoria

 


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#307 Sparky

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Posted 11 April 2016 - 09:27 AM

"The City team identified a relatively short window of time to complete the removal of the existing fencing and asphalt, which would allow for a new turf area to be planted prior to the busy summer period."

Really?.....that's your best shot?
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#308 slinkyo

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Posted 11 April 2016 - 09:30 AM

What a glorious backpedal!


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#309 Mike K.

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Posted 11 April 2016 - 09:37 AM

Yeah, that's pretty epic.

 

After allowing the facility to deteriorate over the span of many years to the point of the courts being deemed unusable, suddenly the push was on to remove them and cover them with sod? Bizarre.


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#310 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 11 April 2016 - 09:38 AM

"The City team identified a relatively short window of time to complete the removal of the existing fencing and asphalt, which would allow for a new turf area to be planted prior to the busy summer period."

Really?.....that's your best shot?

 

How many years have they been closed?


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#311 Mike K.

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Posted 11 April 2016 - 09:44 AM

They were listed on the City's tennis court page on a May 18, 2015 WayBack Machine cache and were removed prior to the next scan on September 17th.

 

Which is odd, because this lines up precisely with the roll-out of Helps' tent city plan. I'm not saying there is a correlation, but during the time of the tent city debacle they were removed from the site (possibly closed then, too).


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#312 Nparker

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Posted 11 April 2016 - 09:46 AM

I don't think one has to be a member of the tin foil hat brigade to see a correlation between the closure of Topaz Park tennis courts and the attempt to establish a tent city in this location.



#313 slinkyo

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Posted 11 April 2016 - 09:49 AM

I was walking by there the other day and noticed the sign. The surface is totally wrecked so would need a whole new surface. It looks like at least 10 years of neglect.
If you want to see how popular tennis is hang around Cedarhill Rec. The place is ALWAYS busy and overbooked. I'm always getting jousted by their damn tennis rackets. Mind you, the courts are covered, but since all the hoopla around adding more tennis courts there was stopped due to public outcry, perhaps they can start a discussion around Topaz park. I understand that the tennis club was going to foot the bill at Cedar. Perhaps a partnership? Just an idea, although not sure if it would even be a good one.



#314 todd

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Posted 11 April 2016 - 09:53 AM

I don't think one has to be a member of the tin foil hat brigade to see a correlation between the closure of Topaz Park tennis courts and the attempt to establish a tent city in this location.

^You should join we do a social once a month.


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#315 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 11 April 2016 - 09:59 AM

...all the hoopla around adding more tennis courts there was stopped due to public outcry, perhaps they can start a discussion around Topaz park. I understand that the tennis club was going to foot the bill at Cedar. Perhaps a partnership? Just an idea, although not sure if it would even be a good one.

 

Bear Mountain will be taking the clay courts that that organization had proposed at Cedar Hill.

 

http://www.cfax1070....o-Bear-Mountain


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#316 slinkyo

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Posted 11 April 2016 - 10:08 AM

Bear Mountain? Wow. They must have been desperate.



#317 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 11 April 2016 - 10:16 AM

Bear Mountain? Wow. They must have been desperate.

 

Owner Dan Matthews says the arrangement will be similar to that of the golf courses, with plenty of opportunity for casual players.

He says they've broken ground on the tennis facility. "We're going to be building eight clay tennis courts that will  be covered courts in the winter season, and open in the summer season"

Matthews said on C-FAX1070 Wednesday morning that he's hoping to reach an agreement with Tennis Canada to make Bear Mountain the organization's home base.

Clay is the most popular tennis surface in the world, but tennis people locally have struggled to develop a facility in the Victoria area.

 

 


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#318 Mike K.

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Posted 11 April 2016 - 10:16 AM

Yup, the biggest clay court facility in all of Canada.

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#319 jonny

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Posted 11 April 2016 - 10:59 AM

Bear Mountain? Wow. They must have been desperate.

 

Why desperate?



#320 North Shore

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Posted 11 April 2016 - 12:26 PM

 `Cos they`re halfway up a mountain that`s at the edge of town?


Say, what's that mountain goat doing up here in the mist?

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