Park’s future still undetermined

By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: August 01, 2008

The future of some Greater Vernon parkland is still unknown. The Vernon School District decided in early July that it will never construct a school at N’Kwala Park on MacDonald Road and the 7.46-acre site will be sold. It has been leased by the Greater Vernon Services Committee since 1986 for soccer fields and a playground. “I’ve talked to the school district and let them know that we have an interest in the property,” said Al McNiven, GVSC’s parks and recreation administrator. “We need to discuss the value and then the matter will go to the (GVSC) committee for consideration.” It’s expected that the matter will be discussed in September, and it’s not known if the GVSC directors will agree to actually purchase the land from the school board. However, McNiven points out that N’Kwala is extremely popular for soccer, as well as a neighbourhood park. “GVSC has invested money into the soccer fields and the playground equipment,” he said. Price could become an issue, though, because provincial regulations dictate the district get fair market value for land. The district acquired the MacDonald Road property in 1977 as a potential school site but that never occurred because of factors such as enrolment. Also being sold by the district is 5.29 acres of land on Heritage Drive, which is leased by the GVSC for a dog park. McNiven said there have been no discussions with the school district about that property, and GVSC directors would have to determine whether they want to buy that site. The district has owned the Heritage Drive property since 1977.
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Morning Star Editorial N'Kwala requires quick action

It's easy to fall into summer mode, but there are some significant issues that still must be dealt with. Among them is the future of N'Kwala Park in the south BX. The Vernon School District announced in early July that it doesn't require the land for a school site and it would be sold. The most likely purchaser is the Greater Vernon Services Committee, which has leased the land since 1986 for use as soccer fields and a playground. While there have been some preliminary discussions between the two agencies, the matter has not formally been debated at the GVSC table. In fact, instead of it being on the agenda for the August board meeting, N'Kwala won't be before GVSC until September. The longer the issue is left, the greater chance of school district timelines not being met and the prospect of the land going on the open market (ie. developers). And as the park is extremely well used, that would be unfortunate. Certainly the school district only deemed the land surplus in July, but it's been known for years that a school would likely never be there. GVSC freely admits that it's always considered that land to be one worth acquiring, so why is the process taking so long?

There are still a few days until the agenda must be finalized for GVSC's Aug. 14 meeting to be finalized, so we would encourage the directors and staff to do everything possible to bring N'Kwala Park to the forefront. At a time when surveys indicate there is a lack of green space in Greater Vernon, the possible loss of park should have our officials jumping. Instead, they are treating the issue like summer break.