Editor:
I am an avid player and supporter of pickleball in South Surrey. It is a sport that people of all ages can participate in and it’s a common language.
Pickleball is, from what I have heard, the second most popular sport in Canada so, yes, we need a lot more courts built. Where do we build them?
Pickleball does make a lot of noise as you hit a plastic ball with a paddle back and forth and then there’s the noise and excitement of the game in general.
We used to play at the tennis courts next to Crescent Park off of 128 Street, but the folks living next door had a problem with the noise.
As many of you probably know, Surrey’s mayor has been busy, along with his majority on council, putting roads through some of our great parks and giving the OK to level many forested areas for industry, especially around the Little Campbell, for example.
Now the mayor is covering the south end of the field in Crescent Park after leveling a few trees and putting in a large blacktop surface to provide for probably 12 pickleball courts.
I would think the the pickleball community is feeling good about that, but I’m not feeling good. Being in a natural park is a uplifting way to communicate with nature with the trees and the wildlife.
The problem is that most of our great parks in South Surrey have major arterial roads surrounding them so it’s very hard to commune with nature with all the racket coming from the traffic noise you can hear in most areas of our parks.
Crescent park is different because of its size and, basically, 128th is the only arterial route that you can hear and even then it’s not right next to the park and has a buffer. The introduction of those courts in a really quiet part of the park will take all that away.
Instead of quietly walking through the park on your own, with friends or your dog you will hear the wacking of paddles on balls and a lot of yelling through the forest.
There goes the natural sounds that you relaxed with and enjoyed. So, I’m sorry, my friends at pickleball, I would by far have the park remain as it is.
Brian Lauder, Surrey