The Councillor Mark Taylor for the Bay Ward area is putting forward a proposal to redevelop the Ron Kolbus Lakeside Centre and Britannia Park. Under the current proposed plan, the parking lot near the water will be eliminated which will probably double the distance Ottawa Kiters will have to carry to get to the launch area.
As a result, the Ottawa Kiting community members participated in writing a submission on behalf of the kitesurfing community to make sure our use of the park is acknowledged and assuming people are in agreement, request either some dedicated parking for sports (windsurfing, kitesurfing, kayaks, etc.) or at a minimum some sort of drop-off point within reasonable distance.
It would be appreciated if everyone would send an email to your councillor and attach a copy of the kitesurfing community response which can be downloaded here (also available in the Documents sidebar).
Here is a rough draft which you could use/personalize when emailing your councillor.
Subject: Ron Kolbus Lakeside Centre and Britannia Park redevelopment
Dear Councillor XXX,
As a resident of your ward I am writing to you in regard to the proposed Ron Kolbus Lakeside Centre and Britannia Park re-development that is currently being drafted by Councillor Taylor. From our perspective it is overall a positive initiative but that the 450+ community members, who live throughout the city, have some concerns regarding the proposed elimination of an existing parking lot. Our concerns are that removing parking close to the waterfront will limit the ability of kitesurfers to easily access the water, and during the winter the ice, and a possible decrease in parking may lead to overflow parking to other neighbourhoods.
(Personal sentence about how important kitesurfing is to you)
Attached is the submission developed and supported by the Ottawa Kitesurfing community that was submitted to Councillor Taylor on this matter. I would ask that you read the attached submission to better understand our support for the re-development in general but our specific concerns regarding the parking lot and access to the Ottawa River. I hope we can count on your support if our concerns are not addressed in the next version of the draft plan.
(attach the final PDF document)
Steve
