Plans afoot for Albert’s Farm
GREYMONT– Friends of Albert's Farm Conservancy cleans up the park and expresses future action plans.
The Friends of Albert’s Farm Conservancy together with the ward councillors and volunteers from the community cleaned up the wetland areas of Albert’s Farm.
The group gathered on 26 November and spent most of the day removing litter around the wetland, along to the stream, next to the trails and in an area once occupied by invasive vegetation, which was recently cleared by City Parks.
Colleen Rood, vice chairperson of the conservancy, explained that cleanups of the park and other events, such as public meetings, are part of educating the community about the park and creating an environment to accommodate cyclists, dog walkers and families.
Rood added that education is essential as it is the behaviour of the park users that can cause problems in the park, such as litter and annual fires.
She said unknown individuals cause fires in the park every year. Even though controlled fires have ecological benefits, fires should only be started once every two to three years, and damage has been done to the ecology because of the frequency of fires.
Rood confirmed it was not City Parks or Albert’s Farm that were responsible for the fires but she suspects it is groups within the community who feel nothing is being done at Albert’s Farm.
She wanted to confirm that the friends of the conservancy have spent this year doing the groundwork to create an action plan for the park. This groundwork included building a relationship with City Parks and developing a management plan to fully implement in the new year.
Other problems in the park include a collapsing dam wall, which is causing the wetland area to spread and dry out. Rood also acknowledged that the tall grass in the park could be a security risk and that they are aware that vagrants do take shelter under the trees in the park.
According to her, these are all issues Friends are working on and they are open to input from the community. “We want to get people to know more about the park and create ways for the community to take responsibility,” said Rood, who also advised community members to report anything in the park to the relevant authorities so action could be taken.
