Days after City of Toronto crews began installing dozens of fence posts along the edges of Scarborough Heights Park in an effort to curtail visitors from getting too close to the steep edges of the Bluffs, the area councillor says he has “halted” the project.
“I am meeting with City staff on Monday and will be holding a community stakeholder meeting in the next days to provide information, the opportunity for discussion and options,” Gary Crawford said in a brief statement on Facebook Friday afternoon.
It’s not clear what exactly triggered the decision to stop the installation of approximately 500 metres of six-foot-tall fencing, but residents Global News spoke with on Thursday expressed frustration about a lack of consultation on the project.
Global News contacted Crawford’s office Friday afternoon to ask more about the decision to stop construction, what other options are being considered and what kind of feedback has been received. However, as of Friday evening, a response wasn’t received.
The project was publicly announced on Wednesday through Crawford’s Facebook page. The Scarborough Southwest councillor said residents have been flocking to parks at the top of the Bluffs and have gone close to the edge even though there is signage warning people to stay back and use caution.
“Despite enforcement and the issuance of hundreds of tickets, the dangerous behaviour continues, resulting in emergency services personnel having to take action and conduct rescue operations,” Crawford wrote.
“As well as being an extremely concerning safety issue, these repeated operations are expensive and put a strain on already stretched staff resources.”
Crawford said two large sections of Scarborough Heights Park, located off of Fishleigh Drive and south of Kingston and Danforth roads, were set to see the new fencing installed.