Okanagan Lake Park rededication held
When Jeanette Beaven fought alongside others in 2002 to stop developers from building a hotel at Okanagan Lake Park, she thought the battle was won and the war was over.
The issue was put to the voters in a referendum and 91 per cent of residents voted against commercial development in public parks.
“So here we are again today,” said Beaven at a brief rededication ceremony for a park bench purchased originally by Protect Our Parkland, “and we’re still fighting to save our parks.”
The issue of parks commercialization is back before Penticton City Council in the form of a parks master plan steering committee after overwhelming objection to a proposed waterslide at Skaha Lake Park. (Professional polling company Oraclepoll Research reported only 17 per cent approval for the project in an October 2016 survey.)
“We need to remind city councils of what’s happened in the past,” said David Perry, who was elected mayor over incumbent Mike Pearce in 2002 partially on his pro-parks platform. “People fought very hard to keep a hotel off this beautiful property and they thought it was a permanent win. We need to continually remind not only new councils but new senior staff of what’s happened in the past.”
Parks advocate Dr. Gerry Karr said most elected officials have the attitude “we’re elected to make the decisions and if you’re not happy then vote us out in the next election.”
However Karr warned, “With parks, once it’s gone it’s gone and you can’t wait for the next election because you will never get it back.”
“The (2002) referendum proved that this was not just a fringe group and it wasn’t a city divided, it was a city united against a council that made a foolish decision.”
The bench is located on the sidewalk in front of the entrance to the dog beach.
About 100 citizens attended the brief ceremony.