Pickleball courts for Hilda Montgomery Park in Gosport were squashed by Brighton Council Monday night after a strong show of opposition from residents of the lakeside community.
The Gosport communities’ opposition to the pickleball courts was added to Monday night’s council agenda after approximately 70 concerned residents of the tight-knit community staged a demonstration at the park early Monday morning, Aug. 16. The group blocked construction on the project, which was to see four courts built on an existing baseball diamond at the park on the corner of Baldwin Street and Price Street East.
A council motion was passed Monday night to effectively defer the project from proceeding at the Gosport park, and have Municipality of Brighton staff look at alternative sites to host the pickleball courts, said Mayor Brian Ostrander.
Moreover, council also directed staff to come up with a plan of communication with the community so that once a list of possible sites for the courts is established, the affected neighbourhoods and the community at large can be given ample notice of council’s intentions.
Ostrander also noted that staff will also be asked to come up with a communication policy so that they don’t ever run into this again.
For his part, Roger Cheer, one of the demonstration organizers, said he’s pleased Brighton Council has decided to look elsewhere for a suitable area for the pickleball courts. He’s also happy Gosport residents’ response to the pickleball project was heard loud and clear by council.
“I only play to win; I only ever played sports to win, never to lose. This was just having fun, we were having fun. I got to see all my old buddies. So, I’m happy with everything. There is no point in dragging it on,” said Cheer, who owns Spinnaker Suites on Bay Street near the park.
Mayor Ostrander hopes staff can identify a suitable site for the pickleball courts “sooner rather than later” so communications can take place and construction can begin in an expedient manner after that. Brighton had applied for a provincial COVID-19 Resiliency Infrastructure Grant in December of 2020 and was recently awarded $100,000 with a total of $125,000 earmarked for the project.
“We have grant money going toward this project and, although we’re allowed to hold off for a couple of years, this isn’t the kind of investment for the community that we
want to hold off on. We want to find a good location and get this little project underway,” said the mayor.
He’s also hoping to meet with Gosport community members to gauge what they would like to see in terms of recreation infrastructure in the area.
“There are probably things in that area of the municipality that we can improve or provide investment for. It comes down to sitting down and having a chat and finding out what folks want,” said Mayor Ostrander.
