Kanata Parkland
Over the past number of years, the residents, and councillors representing them, have had a number of discussions and disagreements with builders over what should or should not be done with some of Kanata’s natural spaces. Most recently it has been a discussion of what trees should be removed beside a soon-to-be-closed roadway: before that a dispute over lands around the “Beaver Pond”. Long before that, and before the City Of Kanata amalgamated with the City of Ottawa, a piece of rugged green space along Campeau Drive was saved from dynamite and was ear-marked as a future Kanata Park. This bit of green space is located directly behind Forest Hill Long Term Care facility that my father recently moved into and, although his eyesight is significantly diminished, it is nice to be able to tell him about the changing seasons rather than looking out at rooftops.
New construction continues unabated in Kanata; dynamite continues to flatten hillsides; but, thankfully, one small bit of the original ‘wild’ land remains as a reminder of what Kanata was like when Bill Teron and Kanata’s city planners designed some parts of the City of Kanata to blend in with the natural surroundings. Such an approach apparently doesn’t fit in with the economics of modern town planners and development companies so, as Kanata grows, and grows rapidly, Kanata, too, is becoming more and more like other City of Ottawa new subdivisions with tiny corner parks that meet minimal specifications for space and wall-to-wall houses. Oh well, progress is progress, I guess. Just can’t get native blueberries from the spot where Centrum asphalt now lies. Thank goodness the City of Kanata folks saved this little bit of natural heaven for me and others to walk in once in a while.
Meanwhile along Campeau another residence is billing itself as a five-star place to enjoy retirement years and I’m out finding pleasure in photographing even more fire hydrants for my blog followers to enjoy.
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