Illegal dumping down at park since gate installed

City parks staff are monitoring whether a recently installed automatic gate is preventing people from driving into Malden Park to dump old couches and speed around the parking lot. It’s the first automatic gate in a Windsor park. It was installed in September and activated in January at the main entrance off Malden Road, after Ward 2 Coun. John Elliott asked in January of 2017 what could be done to prevent illegal dumping and joyriding in the 175-acre west-end park. The gate automatically closes at 10 p.m. and opens at 7 a.m. If someone is inside the park when the gate closes there’s a sensor to open the gate for exiting vehicles. Since the gate became operational there have been no complaints about illegal dumping or joyriding, though a city report notes that most illegal dumping happens in the summer months. “Administration will continue to monitor this issue,” the report says. “It should be noted that this type of gate will not completely eliminate inappropriate, after-hour activities in the park, but may prove useful in greatly reducing it.” The report says if the gate proves to be a success, they may be installed at other parks where there are problems with people using them illegally after hours. A city bylaw states that people aren’t allowed in city parks between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Another bylaw outlaws parking in a park between 11:01 p.m. and 6:59 a.m.