I have lived on Garrison Hill in St. John’s for the past 10 years and during that time I have acted as a steward of the naturalized green space between Garrison Hill and the Kirk, bordered by Harvey Road and Queen’s Road.
I intimately know the trees, bushes, and other plants growing there. I watch the crows, bluejays, juncos, chickadees, flickers, starlings, waxwings and robins who rely on this haven of natural space for food and habitat. I see the countless pollinating insects busy in their work as I pick the apples and beech nuts which proliferate there. As a community, we organie annual cleanups of the litter strewn there by the wind and passers-by on Harvey Road. We watched in 2010 as hurricane Igor toppled one of the oldest maples at the very edge of the forest and we continue to watch as its metre-wide stump decomposes and creates new life for fungi and lichen. Green spaces are not just for the use of people, but for the benefit of all living things.
A rezoning of this area from open space to commercial central mixed is being sought in order to trample this forest and erect a 10-storey condo development. St. John’s city council unanimously voted on Nov. 4th to recognize a climate change emergency. It is entirely antithetical for this climate change emergency motion to be accepted and to allow for the removal of the last naturalized green space in the city’s core. Does this council want to be seen as acting globally by denying this rezoning and commercial development or as bold-faced hypocrites who claim to support real change but refuse to implement it? This is an opportunity to make a stand for urban forests, to reinforce a network of green spaces, and to better strengthen sustainability in St. John’s.
I implore this council, as the stewards of our city, to vote against this rezoning of open space to commercial central mixed. By preventing this rezoning you can prevent the permanent loss of this valuable environmental asset.
Jeff Foran
St. John’s