To the editor,
Re: Bylaw eases rules around taking shelter in city parks, March 14.
I, like many, have great concerns over the announcement of allowing (inviting) homeless persons to set up camps in Beban, Bowen, and Colliery Dam parks, especially without consultation with those residents who will be directly affected. I live directly across the street from Colliery Dam Park and will be one of the first affected by the the well-documented problems of unfettered homeless camps, drugs, belligerent behaviour and garbage mess. But even these pale in comparison to a much more immediate and dangerous condition that can have a most tragic outcome, that of fire.
Some in these camps are extremely careless with fire, whether used for lighting, cooking or heating, even burning down their very own camp. Can you imagine an out-of-control fire in any of the these parks? Adjacent neighbourhoods would be in great danger.
I believe city council would be acting in an uninformed and perhaps even foolhardy fashion by not recognizing or addressing the great liability they would be subjecting residents to by trying to hide the homeless in our city parks. Warehousing the homeless with an out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality does nothing to cure their situation and only exacerbates the problem. It would be better to have them camped on the front lawn of city hall, where at least camp conditions could be monitored and arising situations could be dealt with in a timely fashion.
Brian King, Nanaimo
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