Inverlea Park is no place for a new fire station

Re: Three sites seen as suitable for new north-end Peterborough fire station, July 20

City residents should be outraged that Inverlea Park, one of downtown’s most iconic green spaces, is at risk of being torn up for a new north end fire hall.

Dillon Consulting, a Torontobased firm, narrowed down the field of candidate sites to three. Besides estimating fire response times, the firm’s analysis heavily favoured city-owned properties.

As a result, the three sites deemed “highly-ranked” are merely the most affordable options for cash-strapped city hall to develop. Thanks to this pennywise, pound-foolish approach, Inverlea is now on the chopping block.

Inverlea should never have been considered in the first place. When the trustees of the Nicholls Park Trust purchased the land in the 1890s, they sought to preserve it for generations to come.

Wide open spaces like Inverlea are a rare commodity in our city, a point driven home by the city’s recent Assessment of Parks and Open Spaces, a yearslong project concluded this February by Basterfield and Associates, a local firm. Basterfield’s report alleges that Peterborough doesn’t have enough green spaces to satisfy the recreational needs of our growing city. It finds that the downtown, west and north ends are especially deficient relative to other parts of the city.

Given that these areas are expected to grow in population in coming years, why those involved in the fire hall project didn’t look to spare our parks is a question worth asking.

For a city that claims to love and protect our natural spaces, we sure have an odd way of showing it.

When will our beautiful parks stop having to pay the price for development on the outskirts? The search for a new fire station deserves an overhaul, and Inverlea Park should be off the table.

Evan Bates, Dennistoun Ave

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