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Safety of neighbourhood walkways questioned by North Battleford residents

North Battleford city council members spent a good deal of their virtual meeting Monday discussing concerns about walking paths in the Centennial Park area.
walking feet

North Battleford city council members spent a good deal of their virtual meeting Monday discussing concerns about walking paths in the Centennial Park area.

It has become a hot topic lately at City Hall, as local residents have made known their concerns about the safety of the walkways, and that they are fed up with criminals using the paths to stage break-ins and other crimes in the area.

According to a city memo, administration received two separate applications and a number of phone calls on the issues in the Centennial Park area in the last few months.

The latest application before their council meeting on Monday was a request from homeowners of a property on the 11000 block of Gardiner Drive, a property that is adjoining to a walking path.

The homeowners had offered to buy the adjoining walkway from the city and make it part of their property, the rationale being that this might help deter some of the issues there.

But councillors expressed a desire for more discussion and community feedback. On Monday, council voted not to approve the request to purchase the walkway, but to continue to monitor the situation in the neighbourhood and look for ways to incorporate Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design principles and mitigate situations of concern for residents.

The resolution also included having administration come back to Planning Committee in June, with information on how to improve visibility and safety within the walkways and incorporate CPTED principles. The city might also seek to hold more community meetings on the subject.

While the pathways have come under scrutiny, they do serve a purpose for people trying to get around a neighbourhood. In an interview with the News-Optimist Tuesday, Mayor Ryan Bater noted the implications for the city.

“To close a single walkway really means that we are opening the door to close any and all walkways,” said Bater. “That has a significant impact on the walkability of the city, accessibility of neighbourhoods and parks. It’s a big discussion to have.”

He noted walkways are all over the city and tend to be placed so that people can get from one block to another, or to access green spaces.

The issues surrounding the Centennial Park walkways have percolated for some time. According to City Planner Ryan Mackrell, in October administration received some initial phone calls and complaints about criminal activity in the area involving the walkways.

Mackrell told council that he and Herb Sutton (community safety coordinator) went out and met residents around that time and did a walk through. A letter and package of information was sent out to residents afterwards.

In March, the city received their first written application to close all walkways in the neighbourhood, at the city’s expense.

In that application, crime concerns were again cited. It was noted in correspondence from a local resident that lanes were “completely black” at night and were dangerous in the sense that if something happened “no one would see it.”

At that point, the city started a public notice, and a neighbourhood open house meeting was scheduled for later in March. Unfortunately, COVID-19 hit and the meeting was put on hold.

Then on Monday came the latest request regarding the Gardiner Drive walkway where proponents sought to buy the walkway. That request did not go ahead, but it is clear the issue of walkways in general will be back at council again in the near future.

Council does have the power to divest walkways. Mackrell told council that under the Planning and Development Act, council could deem a walkway no longer necessary. This would require a bylaw, and a public notice period of “ten clear days.”

The March public meeting on walkways has yet to be rescheduled due to the COVID-19 situation. Bater noted they did discuss at council the possibility of trying again to hold a public meeting, perhaps by digital means, to discuss the options.

“It’s difficult to plan because we don’t know what restrictions will remain in place for how long,” said Bater.

“There have been a lot of requests by some property owners to close walkways but this is a discussion council has yet to have. Ideally we would have them with neighbourhoods, in other words we would have several meetings at different neighbourhoods of the city so that people could come together and talk about the value of the walkways and whether council should consider closing them or not.”

He also expects administration to come back at their Planning Committee meeting in June with ideas on how the issues could be addressed.

“Maybe we make some investments in lighting at the walkways, that sort of thing, to make them safer,” Bater said.