This week, City Council will determine the fate of a surplus school site in Dunluce, and I’ll be pushing for a decision that balances the future of both green space and affordable housing needs in our community.
In 2006, the First Place Program was established to convert 20 surplus school sites into attainable housing for first-time homebuyers. While 16 of these sites have been successfully developed, Administration is now looking to close out the program. Their recommendation is to remove the final four sites, including one in Dunluce. Under this proposal, the Dunluce site would instead be used for affordable housing development.
In the specific area of Herb Link, one surplus parcel is already under development for affordable housing which has already challenged programmable park spaces in the form of decreasing the size of ball diamonds, and if this goes through, another will be removed entirely.
I am hesitant to see the Dunluce site lost to further development and will be bringing forward a motion to permanently designate it as park space. The motion and need for Council debate are rooted in the following:
Ward Anirniq has stepped up to meet the city's housing needs, and is home to 14 projects over the last 7 years, which is tied for the second-highest percentage of projects in Edmonton. The City has a policy target of seeing affordable housing in all neighbourhoods across the city, yet we are still seeing a concentration in certain parts of the City.
We have and continue to welcome affordable housing - with even more projects in the works - but we have to ask: how do we ensure affordable housing is distributed fairly across all neighborhoods and parts of the city, how do we give all communities equal opportunity for input, and how do we consider access to quality park space across a neighbourhood?
For example, community commitments were made in other areas; like La Perle, to preserve green space following extensive engagement as they had a complete picture of all surplus parcels. Dunluce residents were never informed at the time of the First Place Program about the potential development of another site in the same park space for affordable housing, and the total loss of park space overall. All residents deserve that same level of fairness in the process.
Tune into the conversation at Council this week, and I’ll be sure to keep you updated on the outcome.
Erin.
