Neglected parkette declared surplus

Roger Varley

After many years of trying, Uxbridge council has finally decided to get rid of the King Street parkette by passing a resolution declaring the land surplus.

The property will be put up for sale, but a meeting with neighbours was scheduled for Tuesday night to see if any one of them wants to buy it. The plot has been vacant for over 40 years and, as resident Gerry Oldham told council, it used to have playground equipment which was donated by a service club. That equipment is long gone and the plot has been left in benign neglect for years. Oldham said she has been fighting to retain the small park for 40 years. She said a bench and a picnic table in the park would be good.

Now that the park has been declared surplus, it will have to go through a rezoning process to change it from recreational to residential. According to a report by clerk Debbie Leroux, rezoning would require a public meeting. She noted that in 2014, following a report from township planning consultant Liz Howson, council at that time did not proceed with the rezoning. When asked what was different now, Leroux said that, at that time, the rezoning suggestion was sent for further study, which was done.

Council also approved her recommendation that the land not be serviced with water and sewer.

Mayor Dave Barton said that, under the township's parks master plan, discussions had taken place about the King Street parkette and it was decided to dedicate resources to other parks. He noted that a playground on Quaker Village common is only 500 metres away.

Also on Monday, council received a deputation by Michael Banh of the Uxbridge Rotary Club and Ingrid Janssen from Little Forests Durham seeking permission to install a mini forest - also known as a Miyawaki forest - in a corner of the Fields of Uxbridge.

In a presentation replete with before and after photos of similar mini-forests from around the world, Banh said the process involves concentrated planting of native trees and plants, packing as many as five plants in each square metre. He said such mini-forests grow 10 times faster, are 30 times more dense, are 30 time better at reducing CO2 and have 20 to 100 times more biodiversity.

Banh and Janssen proposed that two such mini-forests be installed in the northwest corner of the Fields of Uxbridge, near a small patch of wetland. They said the growth should not interfere with soccer games at the Fields of Uxbridge and it would also mean less grass to cut. The first phase would begin in July with planting taking place in October, and the second phase would go in in 2025.