The City of Richmond is readying itself to put its rubber boot on the gas pedal at the Garden City Lands park and conservation area.
This year the city has budgeted $2.1 million to build a perimeter trail around the 136-acre site, as well as reconstruct a small mound in the northeast corner, starting this fall.
A walking path will cut diagonally across the Lands, splitting it into a bog and wetland conservation area, and an active recreation area with an urban farm, passive play fields and a community farm centre with a fruit-tree lined parking lot.
Meanwhile, the Garden City Conservation Society, comprising of those who helped save the park from council's initial attempts to develop the land, continues to ask to be included in the consultation process regarding the trail's development and the hydrology work.
Society member Jim Wright told council it is imperative all the land's soil remains fit for agriculture or conservation. He is also advocating for the planting of native species and trees that won't block mountain views. Coun. Harold Steves has raised concerns the new Walmart development on Alderbridge Way should ensure it landscapes with native species as well.
