A group of concerned Prince George Citizens will be hosting an informal community meeting regarding Ginter’s Meadow.
The group called Ginter’s Green Forever, will host the meeting at the Massy Drive entrance to Ginter’s on Wednesday, July 13 at 6 p.m.
The event will highlight the roadway expansion plans currently part of the Official Community Plan (OCP). The proposed roadways will be marked with ribbons highlighting their impact on the community park.
“We want to highlight what this space might be like with the proposed Massey extension through this area and up the escarpment,” said Selene Maxwell, Ginter’s Green Forever member.
“Residents will be able to see where the road would go according to the City’s own 15-year road network plan from the Official Community Plan”.
The group is concerned that the current OCP contains two major road extensions that would go through Ginter’s Meadow Park: the extension of Foothills Boulevard to Ferry Avenue and the extension of Massey Drive up the escarpment to Tyner Boulevard.
The group is also concerned that the OCP contains plans for vast tracts of developments surrounding Ginter’s Meadow and all the way up the escapment, almost to Shane Lake.
“We don’t think Ginter’s Meadow and the surrounding forests should be sacrificed for an outdated model of urban expansion into greenspace within our city,” said James Steidle, Ginter’s Green Forever member.
“The model of development envisioned by the city is expensive, bad for the environment, and out of touch with the challenges of the future.”
Ginter’s Green Forever organizer Jenn Matthews said the forest around Ginter’s Park and the park itself is at risk.
“If you think the flagging tape is ugly, just wait until you see 4 lanes of traffic,” said Matthews.
“We need to protect the whole forest around Ginter's Park and the park itself. Currently both are at risk. They are at risk because of the long-term plans in the Official Community Plan, and because of the private land currently for sale surrounding Ginter’s park.”
Currently two lots with a combined 161 acres east of UNBC are listed for sale for $9.95 million. The listing advertises the land as “an excellent opportunity for a large-scale development in a fast growing residential and post secondary educational neighborhood."
Ginter’s Green Forever has a petition to the city to ask that the OCP is updated to protect existing greenspace and urban forests prior to further development.
They also want the city to engage in a consultative process with residents on how development of the forests around Ginter’s Meadow and the surrounding escarpment proceeds, and that the city commission a hydro-geotechnical analysis of the Cranbrook Hill escarpment from Tyner Boulevard to Foothills Boulevard.
The group says the investigation should include the cumulative effects of large-scale removal of the forest along the western edge of the escarpment above Ginter’s Meadow and how that would impact of the residential housing developments currently underway and planned for the future.
“Prince George is growing quickly and that makes the preservation of green space now and for future generations vital. Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever,” said Shirley Burkinshaw, from Ginter’s Green Forever.
