Approximately 70 citizens mobilized vehicles and a backhoe to block the perimeter of the park on Monday morning to protest the proposed construction of the courts on an existing children’s ball diamond at the park located at the corner of Baldwin Street and Price Street East in the Gosport community within the Municipality of Brighton.
Roger Cheer, a demonstration organizer, said the municipality’s plans for the four pickleball courts was done with no consultation with the community beforehand. Moreover, the park has been a popular one with neighbourhood children for generations.
A dearth of parking and noise reaching adjacent houses and businesses were also cited as neighbourhood concerns regarding the construction of additional pickleball courts, said Cheer.
“I told the Mayor that (the park redevelopment) isn’t (expletive) coming here; I was pretty damned direct about it,” said Cheer, owner of the nearby Spinnaker Suites on Bay Street and a longtime Brighton resident.
Michael Martell, a Gosport resident who attended the demonstration, said the tight-knit community is united in its opposition to the repurposing of the park, which has a long
history in the neighbourhood.
“I think they realize if they go ahead with the construction we can mobilize to prevent them. The municipality went about this incorrectly,” said Martell.
Cheer said other parks within Brighton would be better suited to host the popular sport of pickleball, most notably King Edward Park.
Cheer said Hilda Montgomery Park already has a pickleball court that’s currently in use and adding four more would detract from the park’s viability as children’s space, increase noise emanating from the park and would put pressure on parking in the area.
Brighton Mayor Brian Ostrander attended the demonstration and talked to those in attendance. In an interview with Oldies 100.9 later on Monday, he expressed regret about a lack of communication to neighbourhood residents regarding the park project.
“It certainly comes from the fact that we didn’t communicate with the neighbourhood, we didn’t consult with the neighbourhood or the community at large with regard to this repurposing and we should have. At the end of the day, that’s part of our role as community leaders,” said Ostrander, who had been following social media posts regarding the park demonstration prior to Monday’s protest.
Ostrander said he expects a motion to amend the agenda and have the issue added to Monday’s Brighton council meeting. He hopes council will allow for a workable solution to the park situation.
“It’s certainly my hope that at the very least we tap the brakes and offer community consultation on the issue. I think we will see some action tonight,” said Ostrander, who noted work was supposed to begin midweek on the Hilda Montgomery Park project.
Although he’s grateful that Mayor Ostrander and other council members have reached out to him on the issue, Cheer is adamant Brighton should look elsewhere within the municipality to install more pickleball courts.
“We’re just going to go ahead and stop it, that’s what we’re going to do,” said Cheer. “Let’s get to the table and get real about this thing. Brian Ostrander came down and addressed the people and I thanked him for that. He got the message that we’re for real here, we want to stop this thing.”
(From left, Michael Martell, Roger Cheer and Dave Braithwaite attended the demonstration at Hilda Montgomery Park on Monday morning. The men were among those who voiced opposition to the Municipality of Brighton constructing four pickleball courts on an existing baseball diamond at the park.)
