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Residents fight for park after getting news of' its closure The little park in the woods e people who use it call it I the little park in the woods __ ids an urban oasis in a sea of suburbia for many young families. But there's some confusion about the future of Regency Park, in the upper Beechwood area of Waterloo, after the city started a relocation process due to some concerns raised through a Crime Prevention through Environmental Design audit done last year. The concern of nearby residents is that the city is now planning to close down the little park, remove the play structure and toddler swings, and return it to a natural- ized state. They say that was never one of the options discussed during a public open house process held last year. "That was a big surprise," said Kelly Cartwright. a mother of two who takes her toddler Emile to the playground on a daily basis, "That was never an option that was pre- sented to us." And granting limited park access to the playgrounds at nearby Mary Johnson public school restricts the options for people who want to use the play area during school hours. It means that recre- ational opportunities for local tod- dlers would be impinged for more than 100 days a year. Concerned residents have been clamoring for the city to rethink that recommendation since they've received notice Jan. 2, and asked officials to come up with a compro- mise that would save their park. During the day Regency Park is a well-used toddler playground used by young families and grandpar- ents as a place to play. It's also a play area that services parents who have older kids playing soccer or softball at nearby Roxton Park. But sometimes at night and on weekends it's home to activities that are a little less desired. It's been the site of some late-night partying because of its out-of-the-way loca- tion, with the tell-tale signs still visi- ble the next day. Cartwright acknowledges that there is no natural surveillance, as mentioned in the safety audit, but that's one of the things that park users love about it. It is a little off the beaten path, but it is well used because of it. "During school hours you drop BY Boa anmm @21wa yourkids off and you bring your lit- tle ones to the park," said Cartwright, whose eight-year-old son Tristan attends nearby Mary Johnston. "That proximity has been a plus for most of the parents . "It's very friendly io young chil- dren and even babies.” At a public open house last June the public was presented with three options: keep the equipment at the same location, split it up between the Clair Creek Link and highland Park or move it all to Amberwood Kelly Cartwright gets set to give her son Emile, 1, a push on the toddler swings at Regency Park. Local parents and neighbours are outraged that the city considered closing the popular destination for families in upper Beech- wood without properly explaining that option. The majority voted against hav- ing the play sanctum and swings CITY NEWS relocated to another site. So based on the input and safety audit, city staff recommended that the play structure be removed and the site closed later in 2008. "They said the three options were the refined and finalized options," said Cartwright. "But that's not what happened. "We were nevi-r told we could lose it - that's tht problem.” - u And as one of the only toddler- friendly parks in upper Beechwood, it would be closinga popular desti- nation spot. Most of the other parks are south on KeatsWay and would beabitofahiketogetto. "We don't have a community centre, we dont have any commu- cial development close by," said Wt. "This is the destination for families and on the weekends it'sparAed. _ "For stay-at-home moms, or other caregivers, this is the only option, otherwise they are pretty socially isolated. If the city knew the culture of this neighbourhood they would understand that we love our little park in the woods" The city proposal to make a one-tinte donation of $2,000 to add or maintain the outdoor recre- ational equipment at Mary John- ”mm WATERLDO CHIONICLE . Wednesday. January 16, 2000 . , "There was some miscommuni- cation there," said Mark Dykstra, the qity's director of environment and birks. "We do have a bit of a communication issue on what was presented so we'll have to revisit ston, and to allow community access, just shifts the burden on the parents of the school who have already done major fundraisers to improve the current playground equipment, said Cartwright. The $2,000 does little for the acquisition of new equipment or the upkeep of the site. And once again it was never discussed as an option. That recommendation was sup- posed to go to council on Feb. 4, but there has since been a groundswell of opposition to clos- ing Regency Park Staff is reconsid- ering the options, and acknowl- edged some of the confusion. Nrtoftheprocessistogetsome dialogue going on it, and people can still have their say by calling the project manager, Geri Quin, at 519- 747-8638. The city's already received a flurry of calls since it sent out a letter about the park's pos§ible closure Jan. 2. ' "That was a serious" omission," said Cartwright. "lt wasn't men- tioned in any of the documents." Cartwright said a solution that, might satisfy everyone is moving the park to a more visible area. She thinks that would have more sup- port in the community. Ne've gotten some strong feed- back with people saying, 'Hey we dont want our park moved,'" said Dykstra. "Now we're going to have totevisitthistoseewhatwecando to work with the community and come up with a win-win solution." Conn. Scott Winner, who lepto- sents Wand l, has also been heavily involved in airing residents' con- cerns and trying to broker a solu- “Keeping it in its current loca- tion with upgraded facilities and improved sight lines is my pre- ferred option," said Witmer. "Keep- ing it open from sun-up to sun- down, all year long is very impor- "This has been a good testa- ment to the public process. It's worked very well and we've had a lot of feedback, and” has taken it to heart and moved back ttom tttefroriginal Wm, - A 'uiisTGilikirirut to " at