A secret grassroots bike park nestled inside a Burnaby conservation area has been exposed — and now the city is taking steps to get rid of it.
“Kush Woods” was begun 14 years ago by a group of BMX riders who wanted to create a sustainable bike trail network and training ground.
“What we have developed out there is one of Canada’s largest and one of the best BMX trail systems that the country has,” said Chester Jones, one of the founders of the park and the one fighting for its survival.
The park, which is roughly the size of a soccer pitch, contains jumps and a skate park bowl — all built by volunteers without City Hall’s knowledge.
Last month, a Burnaby parks worker stumbled upon the park and sounded the alarm.
As it turns out, the park sits in the Capitol Hill conservation area, which is owned by the city in order to prevent development.
“The bylaws are there for a purpose,” the city’s director of parks Dave Ellenwood said. “They’re designed to protect trees, habitat, slope stability, which is vitally important to that area.”
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Jones and his cohorts argue the trail system has been built with minimal environmental impact in mind.
“We’ve been very diligent in our trail stewardship, our environmental stewardship,” Jones said. “We’ve kept it low-key to keep it ours.”
The city has also said it faces liability in the case of a serious accident or death within the park, since it’s on city land.
Municipalities have been wrestling with how to protect themselves in the wake of an Ontario court ruling in 2016 that held Bruce County responsible after a man broke his neck at a bike skills park in 2008.
Recently, North Vancouver cited that decision when they moved to dismantle five teeter-totter obstacles on Mount Fromme.
The district later reversed its decision after further talks with the mountain biking community.
Jones is hoping similar discussions can happen to save Kush Woods.
“They want to demolish a volunteer-created asset,” he said. “Let’s talk. Let’s talk before we do this.”
A petition looking to save Kush Woods has nearly reached its goal of 10,000 signatures in less than a week.
Ellenwood says the city is planning to meet with Jones’ group to discuss future options, including a partnership to create similar trails at the existing Burnaby Mountain Air Bike Skills Park.
“The city has no interest in being a fun-stomper,” he said. “What we want to do is meet demand for recreational activities that is safe and not in protected areas.”
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