Presentation to Victoria City Council
by Kris Constable, Vice President,
Canadian Pacific Lawn Bowling Club
Thursday August 21. 2008
Dear (Acting) Mayor and City Council,
I am here at City Hall for the third time this year to discuss the future of the Canadian Pacific Lawn Bowling Club. It’s my understanding that the renewal of the club’s lease is currently being discussed, since a request was recently made by city staff to the club to provide updated information on utilization of the greenspace. Therefore I wish to take this time to dispel any inaccurate information.
I cannot stress enough how much support there is in the community for the CP Lawn Bowling Club. We have met with a variety of residents groups, neighbourhood associations and key players in the area, and have found they share our vision for keeping the bowling green in Cridge Park as the key historical user. Unfortunately, it seems, the only people we aren’t getting support from is the current city council and staff. We have an excellent track record with previous city councils, including those that referred to us as the emerald in the crown of the city. It is only recently that our activities have been called into question.
This was made clear to me earlier this year when I discovered that city staff was giving inaccurate information to the public about the club. I therefore filed a Freedom of Information request for any correspondence the city received and replied to this year regarding the club. The results were very interesting and troubling. I was happy to see that all the documents the city received were in support of the club remaining as it is. However the city’s replies contained false information - information I had already clarified to the mayor, the city manager and other city staff months earlier.
Anyone who wrote an email or letter to the city regarding the lawn bowling club this year has been sent a template response.
I will quote a few passages.
“The city regards the lawn bowling club as important public space within our downtown core.” “Fewer than 40 regular club members for just a few hours a day for just a few months of the year.”.
As I mentioned, I told city officials on January 28th that this information was no longer correct. While membership in 2007 had dropped to about 40 members because of the ongoing construction in the area, by the start of 2008, that number had already doubled. I made this clear in the meeting, so why was this number still being used in city communications?
Two other passages within the city reply also concern me:
“The city has been working closely with representatives of the lawn bowling club to ensure remaining club members are fully assisted in their transition to other clubs in the region. …” and “Any decisions regarding the future of the site will be publicly debated and will be fully transparent.”
I wish I could say these statements were true, but I cannot. The city has not been working closely with the club - not to discuss our current lease, the use of the facilities or the possible transition to another area. We’ve been asking for consultations and meetings for months, but have yet to receive them. Moreover, we’ve recently been told that all discussions regarding the lease of the land will be held in camera.
All in all, we feel like we’re being targeted and left out of the process - and we’re not sure why. The only argument we’ve heard from city hall in favour of developing the land is a lack of utilization and membership. Yet, as I clearly stated on June 26 when I addressed council, our membership has nearly tripled this year.
If the argument is all about utilization, we’d like to know what the city considers acceptable use of a greenspace before it sells the land for development. This should be discussed in context to all the other playing fields and recreational facilities situated in City Parks. How much is enough and why are we he only ones targeted? In our report presented in June we highlighted the restrictions on the current lease that are holding us back from maximizing our utilization.
If there are other arguments than utilization, we’d love the opportunity to discuss them.
We’re not sure why the city is so intent on destroying the remaining green space in our downtown core. We understand the city has a no net loss policy for its parks, yet Ellice Park has not yet been replaced. Can we ask that a replacement for Ellice Park first be provided, and then a feasibility study for the replacement of a green such as ours be made before we move forward funding consultants in support of greedy growth?
We are committed as a club to maintaining the lawn bowling green and neighbouring Cridge Park as a vibrant, outdoor space for everyone to enjoy. Next year, the 2009 National Lawn bowling championships are slated to be held in Victoria, and the following year, the Olympics are in Vancouver. How do we want Victoria to look on the national and international stage in terms of recreation and sport? I would hope we’d be seen as an active participant and supporter of these types of activities.
We produced a report designed to address the very concerns the Mayor and senior staff have raised, but have not received any feedback. Has council had a chance to review it?
Thanks for listening; I’ll now answer any questions.