Re: Dig into the new Seventh Street Park Greenhouse this spring, summer, May 27
The members of the SEEDS Nelson group are proposing to install a market garden of approximately 55 boxes of raised beds and one or two green houses in the park opposite Lake View Village in Nelson. I don’t think due consideration has been given to several factors that argue against this idea.
The park is used by the 100 residents of Lake View who are in their 80s and 90s and are mostly confined to walkers to get around. The park is their only outside recreation and exercise and it provides a quiet area for rest and contemplation. Any undue disturbance such as noise and activity will discourage them from using the park. The park is also used by the surrounding residents to exercise their children and walk their dogs
If worked properly the beds will require volunteers plus other services such as the laying down of extra water pipes and the installation of portable toilets. There is also the question of how many other public projects, such as school outings, will be launched, thereby attracting even more people to the park.
The road in front of the park is just sufficient for handling the present traffic flow and parking but extra traffic is going to cause problems. There will be no place to park many more cars without causing jams. Seventh Street is a dead end so turning will be a problem and the real risk will be cars using the front of Lake View to turn by entering the front entrance driving along the front of the building and leaving by the other exit thus completing their turn. This raises the risk of accidents to the residents quite substantially given their ages and infirmities.
These are a few of the problems I see. So at the very least this matter needs much deeper investigation before any action is proposed.
Jim Ward
Nelson
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