Vancouver council pushes to protect Champlain Heights forest trails

A Vancouver city councillor plans to bring forward a motion to add official park status to a network of forest trails in the city’s Champlain Heights neighbourhood.

Pete Fry says the city is looking to densify the area as part of its Official Development plan, and while he says he is all for density targets, he wants to protect the trail system.

“It’s an interesting part of town that many people aren’t really that familiar with,” he told 1130 NewsRadio.

“It was one of the last wooded areas in the city of Vancouver, and it was developed in the 1970s, similar to South Falls Creek, as sort of mixed-hold, a lot of co-op kind of properties on city-owned land. Because it was built over top of a forest, it really preserved a lot of these what we call sort of road right-of-ways but left them as untouched forests with some trails.”

Fry says the leases are set to expire in the coming decades — leaving the trail network vulnerable since it doesn’t have protected park status. Instead, the land is categorized as a city right-of-way under various labels such as “street horticulture” and “large landscaped areas.” That leaves the area vulnerable to development.

Fry is pushing for the city to maintain the trail network — arguing it contributes to livability and urban resilience.

The Vancouver Official Development plan is mandated by the province under Bill 18, the Vancouver Charter Amendment Act. Part of the act eliminates the need for public hearings on many developments, streamlining new builds.

Fry’s motion seeks to protect the green space ahead of Vancouver’s first city-wide official development plan, slated for next year.

The motion is set to be tabled in city hall Oct. 8.