Motion calling for more rangers to deal with dirty needles clears Vancouver Park Board

The Vancouver Park Board is one step closer to hiring more rangers to address the growing number of drug paraphernalia found in parks and playgrounds.

On Monday the board unanimously approved a motion to work with city council to find funding to bring on the extra staff.

The move comes after a string of high profile incidents involving used needles, several involving children.

The motion, put forward by Non Partisan Association (NPA) commissioner John Coupar was designed as one half of a two part initiative; a corresponding motion by NPA city councillor George Affleck has yet to be debated.

It is now up to council to decide whether that money goes through, Affleck said.

“When I brought the motion to council weeks ago, Vision bumped it to the future until Park Board had made its decisions. As far as I’m concerned it’s now back on the agenda in council, and we’ll have to debate it.”

WATCH: Calls for more ‘Needle Rangers’ in Vancouver parks

1:49 Young boy pricked by needle in Port Coquitlam

But if a decision isn’t made by the end of December, funding won’t be in place for next year, Affleck said.

“The goal is to have this as part of the budget for 2018. So January 1st, 2018, we would see increased funding specifically to the park ranger program and the overall cleanliness of our parks in the city.”

Affleck said he hopes to see his own motion make it to council by next week.

The push for more staff in Vancouver’s parks comes amid growing concern about the presence of syringes in public places.

The City of Vancouver says that between January and August of 2017 it has received more than 1,400 reports of discarded needles across the city, up 68 per cent from the same period in 2016.

The city added that it has launched a number of initiatives to cut down on the number of needles in public, including increasing ranger patrols in Andy Livingston Park on the edge of the Downtown Eastside.

People who find used needles can contact Vancouver Coastal Health’s needle-pickup hotline at 604-657-6561.