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Hi David and All
Very interesting report.
I don't know the area well - once guided a magazine
writer along the water way. He wanted to see it from
the viewpoint of a visitor to the city without long
speeechs about the various points of interest. The
article duly appeared in some magazine or other and
was well recieved.
Anyway - why couldn't the Bird Society establish a
secondary feeding place for the ducks away from
Sullivan's Pond? A great PR project. Maybe council
could help with the costs. If the weren't feed at
Sullivans and found it, then everyone would be happy.
I don't know the area well enough to suggest a
location but there must be places where they would not
be offensive.
Thanks again for the interesting report
Paul
--- David Hughes <davidhughes@accesswave.ca> wrote:
> This has become quite long, so I apologize in
> advance...
>
> I attended the meeting on Wednesday evening on
> behalf on the NS Bird
> Society. I think it is worth noting a few things up
> front. The first is that
> the main driver of the planning seems to be some
> large paddling events
> coming up in the next few years. The second is that
> this was not the first
> meeting for the planning, but was actually a
> workshop where people divided
> into groups and made pretty low level suggestions. I
> had been expecting more
> of a public discussion with an opportunity for
> groups and individuals to
> provide high-level input. Maybe that type of meeting
> had already take place
> without us knowing about it. From what I could tell,
> almost everybody in the
> room was a resident of the immediate area or someone
> involved in aquatic
> sports. They all seemed to know each other.
>
> The meeting started with some a brief presentation
> from the city and the
> firm doing the planning. Apparently there is an
> advisory committee for the
> project that has representative from interest
> groups. The fellow from the
> city rattled off a list of people and who they
> represented. He didn't
> mention anyone from the environmental/nature
> community. Someone (Jane?)
> asked about this and he eventually said there was a
> representative, but he
> had no idea who or what group they might represent
> (I know it isn't the Bird
> Society). This was telling because it sounds like a
> small committee and he
> knew everyone else quite well.
>
> Then it was straight to work with seven groups
> looking at large aerial
> photos and coming up with a grocery list of things
> that people were
> interested in or concerned about. After an hour or
> so, a representative from
> each group presented their priorities to the larger
> group.
>
> I think improving water quality and protecting the
> "natural" areas was on
> the list of every group as was improving the trails
> and infrastructure.
> Overall, I was pleased with the results. People want
> the city to make sure
> as much of the Banook shoreline as possible is
> protected from developers and
> from overuse by the public. There is no desire to
> create a Dartmouth version
> of the Public Gardens. Some things about getting
> ready for the paddling
> events were quite specific and I got the sense they
> will be a priority.
> Silvers Hill was also singled out by most groups
> because it is a viewing
> spot for the paddling and other events. On the
> positive side, people wanted
> any stands of trees on the hill to be protected.
>
> It was obvious that the majority of the people did
> not like the "mess" made
> by the ducks and a few would be happy to get rid of
> the ducks and gulls
> altogether. For much of the evening, councilor
> Gloria McCluskey actually sat
> right beside me and we had a chance to chat about
> the ducks, gulls and other
> birds in the area. By the end of the evening, her
> position had changed from
> rounding the all up to merely equipping them with
> diapers. Seriously, I
> think some progress can be made if we focus on
> educating the municipal
> politicians. She actually started to tell me about
> different birds like loon
> and eagles that she had seen around Banook.
>
> Also at my table was the fellow (Larry Bell)
> proposing the use of native
> plants that either repel or attract ducks to help
> keep them away from the
> large lawn area. That combined with controlling the
> feeding of the ducks
> could go a long way toward cleaning up the mess.
> Gloria McCluskey said
> council is working on an animal control bylaw that
> includes not feeding duck
> at city parks. It is the same bylaw that contains
> the cat control rules. I
> think it has been in the works since HRM was created
> so we may not see it
> any time soon.
>
> David
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca
> [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca]
> On Behalf Of Joan Czapalay
> Sent: April 5, 2007 2:47 PM
> To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
> Subject: Re: [NatureNS] more on the Sullivan's pond
> meeting
>
> Hi Jane, David and all, There is still a Victorian
> tradition in the
> naturalist community that we like to see the birds,
> smell the flowers
> and socialize. This is all good, but if we, like
> you, do not get
> involved politically there will be no birds to see
> or flowers to smell.
> I expect many, like me, who were unable to attend
> the meeting, wrote a
> letter and/or made a phone call to voice concern.
> Thanks for your
> report. Joan
>
>
> David&Jane Schlosberg wrote:
> > Hi, folks. I just wanted to add that there were a
> couple of
> > ecology/conservationist types there who advocated
> plantings around the
> pond
> > aimed at keeping the water clean and keeping the
> perimeter viable. Also,
> we
> > made the point that there's such a thing as too
> much light at night.
> Where
> > were you all? Maybe these meetings are really a
> sham, and the planners
> are
> > just giving us a "sop", pretend listen; but
> naturalists might have had
> some
> > impact if there had been as many of you there as
> there were athletes (make
> > everything spiffy and comfortable for the
> International Games, '08 and
> > '09)and strollers ("more lights at night, clean up
> the underbrush", etc.).
> > Jane Schlosberg
> >
> >
> >
>
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