Editor,
I support the proposal to the City of Surrey, to preserve 100 acres from the Peace Portal Golf course for permanent park purposes. The current use of the land as a golf course limits the enjoyment of the paths, rolling hills, mature forests, and usable green space to a select few golfers and also has environmental concerns. Golf courses have to use pesticides and fertilizers to help keep the turf alive and can cause severe damage to the ecosystem.
A 2020 Metro Vancouver study has shown that Surrey has been both simultaneously losing tree coverage and adding pavement. The tree canopy cover has decreased by 1%, from 2014 to 2020. Aside from shade and cooling, trees also store carbon, serve as habitat for wildlife, maintain biodiverse ecosystems and help manage stormwater. The loss of tree cover is especially evident in South Surrey, especially along 20 and 24 Avenues, where trees are disappearing at a rapid rate and development is rampant.
These 100 acres also have the potential to provide public enhancements such as tennis and pickleball courts, community gardens and dog parks, and also provide vital wildlife habitat.
The current owners of the land are gifting the 100 acres of land to the City of Surrey to create parkland. Is that not preferable to all of the golf course land being developed? Once an area becomes established, parks of this quality and scale cannot be built or acquired.
Barbara Elliott
