A battle over the redevelopment of a popular park in Tsawwassen, B.C., brought residents opposed to the removal of a small urban forest out to protest early Monday morning.
City of Delta crews have begun fencing off a section of Winskill Park to make way for logging.
Protesters are angry about the plan to remove about 170 trees and a disc golf course.
The work is to make room for a new aquatic centre, a fourth baseball diamond and a larger parking lot.
But the protesters say there is widespread opposition to the development.
“I have not met nor spoken to a single person in Tsawwassen who has actually supported this initiative to remove the Winskill forest,” protest organizer Seth Phillips told Global News.
“Every single person I’ve met, they either don’t know about it because they were never properly informed, or they know about it and they’re here now and they want to stand up for it.”
The City of Delta, meanwhile, says the trees would have eventually been cut down either way.
“We’ve had two independent arborists look at the trees as well as arborists within the City of Delta,” Delta city manager Donny van Dyk said.
“Of the nearly 170 trees that will have to be removed, only six are in good health, so these are trees the majority of which would need to be removed in the near future anyways.”
The city says it will replant trees on a two-for-one basis.
The protesters are demanding the city stop the development and hold a referendum on the plan.