Statement by Charlayne Thornton-Joe:
Yesterday we had a tough decision. A motion put forward by the Councillor Loveday and the Mayor to pedestrianize Beacon Hill Park has some merit. When we received over 250 emails on this issue, the movers of the motion made amendments to allow more access to three parking lots...the one on Heywood to park by the Cricket, the one by the Parks yard/tennis/court/lawn bowling and the one by the Petting Zoo. It allowed for over 300 parking spots.
My concerns were that those who had mobility issues that wanted to drive through the park or up to the top would not be able to. I even tried a motion to make it time limited like at Mt Doug and suggested that vehicles would be allowed in these areas until noon, but it was ruled out. I even asked if we could defer the final Council vote to see if the public finds the amendments a good balance but I was told no. So due to this, I voted against the motion at Council. I said the new motion was very different from the original motion (which was good) but folks should be able to respond to the changes.
I thought that we could be nimble and creative in making it accessible to all. We speak about equity all the time and how can this be equitable when we tell those who can not walk up to the top or walk through the park that they will just have to go elsewhere to enjoy the view and that only some parts of the park are available to them.
After I said my reasons for not voting for the motion even though I felt many parts were supportable, Councillor Alto joined me in voting against. So it was a 6-2 vote.