11/12/2008 10:59:00 AM Parks will vanish unless we act
Haven of tranquility in the city: Par-va-Ville Park, a popular spot for workers on their lunchbreaks. It’s our duty to protect these open spaces. *Photo by Helen Jardine
Stuart Hayward
Recent actions and statements about parklands within the City limits should alert the public that without vigilance and sometimes protest, the island's park spaces will be nibbled at until they disappear.
The Corporation of Hamilton (CoH) has given BELCO permission to place a "temporary" transformer in Par-la-Ville Park. According to former Corporation councillor Graeme Outerbridge the decision to erect the transformer on the parkland was not properly taken, making the development illegal. While CoH officials have countered with tightly-parsed definitions and explanations, the fact remains that concrete and steel were erected on public parkland without public notice or involvement.
BELCO for its part has issued threats of not being able to keep the lights on in Hamilton. BELCO should cease trying to bully the public into getting its way. This tactic of bludgeoning public opinion may have worked in the past, but threats and over-the-top warnings are now as useful as crying "wolf".
Back to the Corporation: new CoH leaders seem willing to nibble away at parklands for construction needs as though the public's need for open space was secondary. They need to be reminded that parklands within the city limits are not to be developed - last resort or no.
Current CoH leaders seem not to understand what their predecessors held as beyond question: that the parks belong to people of Bermuda, not to the Corporation. The parks are not a land bank for development when other space can't easily be found. A park is already a use for the land and, in the same way no one would consider City Hall as a "last resort" if space is needed for a parking lot, no one should even entertain the idea that a park is land-in-waiting for some development project.
Manage and grow them
The Corporation's job, as far as parklands are concerned, is to manage and groom them, period. The members of the Corporation of Hamilton (and St George's, for that matter) now and in the future must shed themselves of any notion that parkland is available for development, last resort or otherwise. Parks are an investment for current and future generations. When the rest of the City is chock-a-block with multistory buildings (if short-sighted developers have their way) the parks must still be there to offer respite from the bulk of concrete and tarmac that is the tawdry legacy to human "progress".
The framers of the National Parks Act back in 1986 made a mistake by not including Municipality parklands in the schedule of protected areas. I understand their thinking at the time was that Corporation leaders were quite stern about protecting the City's parks and would resist even the thought of allowing any development on parkland.
Legislators in 1986 couldn't imagine that twenty years down the road, City stewards would be viewing the parklands under their guardianship as expendable.
The government should move swiftly to add all the Island's parklands, wherever they are, to the schedule of protected areas listed in the National Parks Act. There can be no compromises. It is clear that parklands are being increasingly eyed for their so-called "development potential" As Bermuda becomes daily more crowded with people, buildings and vehicles, parklands and other public open space will become increasingly more important.
They must all be protected and watched over. Our vigilance is required. Our sanity is at stake.
Reader Comments
Posted: Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Comment by:
Sara
This is ridiculous!! Bermudians need to realize they have the power to change these things!!
HOLD POLITICIANS ACCOUNTABLE!! MAKE THEM LISTEN!! If they do not listen, do not re-elect them!! Being polite will not cut it anymore. Stand up and speak out!
Posted: Thursday, November 13, 2008
Comment by:
STUART R. NADELSON
It is absolutely essential that all park land open to the public and otherwise is preserved and maintained. It is part of the beauty and charm of Bermuda that must be supported at all cost. Regards to all of my friends on the rock.
