The cutting of trees in a Langley park, intended to make way for a new parking lot, has been halted after a debate at Township Council on Monday.
The tree cutting in Old Yale Park started in early March, at the north end of the park adjacent to the Township’s Operations Centre.
The plan for the Township was to create new parking for the staff at the Operations Centre on 224th Street in Murrayville, where the existing 214 parking stalls had become insufficient for the growing numbers of workers using the complex.
That had led to staff parking on nearby residential roads much of the time, which had become a sore point with some of the locals.
According to the Township, the plan was to create 27 additional parking spots on a 1,000 square meter site at the edge of the park.
But that also drew the ire of neighbours, who complained publicly and to the Township council.
On March 28, council voted to have staff reconsider the parking plan, and in the meantime, the cutting of trees at the park will stop.
Coun. Steve Ferguson brought a motion to council calling for a halt to the tree cutting.
“A park is a park, we don’t want that kind of thing happening in parks,” Ferguson said.
Rene Payer, a nearby resident and former senior Township staffer himself, was pleased with the decision.
“It seems council also received many emails in opposition to the destruction of our little gem of a park,” Payer said. “Sometimes people with a legitimate concern can actually sway council to right a wrong.”
The Township will now consider a new way of dealing with the parking issues around the Operations Centre.
The Operations Centre deals with things like fixing potholes, cleaning streets, and clearing snow around the Township’s roads, among other jobs.
READ MORE: Neighbours upset part of Murrayville park could become parking lot
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