This story has been amended since it was originally posted to clarify the position of Aquilini Development, which leaves decisions about sharing amenities up to individual stratas.
A private playground within a development in the Tsleil-Waututh Nation’s Raven Woods community that should have families jumping for joy instead has most neighbourhood kids finding themselves locked out.
Presently, the brand-new playground can only be accessed with fobs held by owners in the latest phase of the leasehold Seymour Village development, a partnership between the Tsleil-Waututh Nation and Aquilini Development and Construction.
For years, the community has lobbied the nation and their development partners for a park that could serve the whole neighbourhood. So when the new private playground officially opened on Friday, the results were predictable, said Candace Busch, a mother of three in the Raven Woods community.
“Kids were in there, playing and screaming with excitement,” she said. “[Other] kids were literally on the ground having a crying tantrum when they found out that they weren't able to go in. … I felt like a peasant, walking past and seeing everybody on their side, knowing that we couldn't just join them.”
Prior to the pandemic, Busch and some helpers gathered about 500 signatures on a petition calling for a playground with access for everyone, regardless of which phase of which development they live in.
The nearest other playgrounds are at Sherwood Park Elementary and Garibaldi Park, both about 15-20 minutes away on foot (longer if they’re little feet).
“The widely accepted urban planning standard for amenities is a 10-minute walk within a park or a playground,” Busch said.
Kevin Hoffman, president of Aquilini Development, said eventually residents in all phases of the Seymour Village development will have access to the playground, including the one Busch’s family lives in, subject to their strata signing agreements that will ensure they share in the cost and liability.
“The lawyers are actually just finishing the easement agreement and we've been in talks with the strata manager to present that to the respective stratas,” he said.
He added, however, that it would be up to the Seymour Village stratas to extend those agreements to residents in the older complexes within the larger Raven Woods community.
The older stratas would have their own amenity spaces, negotiated at the time they were approved, Hoffman added.
“Residents of Seymour Village can't go and walk into [Raven Woods] buildings and use those amenities. I guess it's different that this amenity is a park and it's out in the open and it can be seen more easily by the community. But it is no different than a private amenity,” he said.
Kids, however, don’t get what an easement agreement is, Busch noted. And there are still too many being left out.
“Children are too young to understand why they can't play – why they would be excluded when other kids can,” she said. “I feel like we're in such a time of focusing on inclusion and here we are with segregating kids.”
In response, Tsleil-Waututh Nation director of public works Melissa Fahey said the nation is actively working on plans that could be more inclusive.
“Our public works department is in the process of creating an integrated plan that will focus on building greater amenity space at Raven Woods. This could include trail systems, public art, and a new park that would be able to accommodate the larger Raven Woods community,” she said in a statement.
