The Greenspace Site

The Greenspace (called the “Lester site” in the EA) is located between Hunt Club and Lester roads, along the Airport Parkway, surrounded by the existing National Capital Commission GreenBelt.

The selection of the Airport Parkway site doesn't make sense:

• It is a 'green' site
  
• It is a nature area with fields, woods
  
• It has areas of wetland
  
• It has wildlife (deer, fox, etc)
  
• Large milkweed area, needed for Monarch butterflies
  
• It is used by families for walking, recreation, etc.
  
• Serious impact (noise - whisles and horns at 4:30 am!, light) on neighbouring communities
  
• Tall fences along the track from Hunt Club all the way to Lester means that the other half of the green space is cut off from residents and animals alike
  
• Won't be able to service the E/W line (the City plan to create 2 or 3 Yards at different points in the city is too expensive and wasteful - entire Toronto Subway system serviced by one site on Downsview) Clarification Note
  
• Violates original NCC vision of a Green Belt
• Why put an industrial facility in an “urban forest area” when there are other viable options.
• 20 deer live here. Their habitat plus that of foxes and other wildlife and plant life will be destroyed.
• Entrance to the city from the airport will be destroyed with trucks turning into the train yard.
• New! Environmentally sensitive. Here is a letter from Albert Dugal, a noted botanist and wetland expert.
  
• New! Here is Mr. Dugal's Field Study for the Parkway site
  

The City of Ottawa’s assessment of this greenspace has many flaws. It did not take into consideration the many recreational, aesthetic, psychological and educational benefits of this greenspace area or how the presence of greenspace contributes to the maintenance of a healthy urban environment.

On the same parkway, just north of the Greenspace Site, the City is currently spending 13 million dollars for a constructed wetland and stormwater management system to deal with existing runoff and erosion problems. An important factor in the construction of the wetland and stormwater management system was the aesthetic aspect of the streams and ponds, given their prominent location along the Airport Parkway. It is difficult to understand why similar concerns are not being considered for the Greenspace, an equally visible location along the scenic route. The construction of a maintenance yard and storage facility would seriously undermine previous attempts (and expenses) made by the City to maintain the beauty of the Airport Parkway.