For years, Parvin Chami has fought to protect the trees and green space behind her Burnaby home for future generations.
Chami, the chair of the Friends of Discovery Park neighbourhood group, lives on Kalyk Avenue not far from Burnaby Hospital. She always assumed if any work was going to happen on the trees in the area, she’d get a courtesy call.
The longtime Burnaby resident knew that some work was going to take place along the path, which leads from a laneway on Kalyk to Gilmore Way.
But Chami was shocked to see exactly what was happening at the site Wednesday. A number of trees along the path had been cut down by construction crews.
“It doesn’t make sense, it’s not acceptable to us,” she told the NOW, noting the greenway is a popular corridor for wildlife.
It’s her understanding the work is being done to build a wheelchair-accessible path, something Chami said she supports, but she questions why so many trees had to be chopped.
Adding to her frustration, she said her group was never contacted by anyone at city hall about the project.
“I can’t bring back 100-year-old trees,” Chami said.
But city officials suggest the work on the path is all above board.
Geoff Gooderham, a landscape development technician with the city, explained the existing concrete pathway, which is on private land, was built years ago but was never well used and not very accessible.
He said the decision was made to upgrade and widen the path to make it more accessible, including for bikes.
As part of the process, three or four old cottonwood trees and a couple of fir trees needed to be removed. The city issued the permits for the work.
“They’re huge, and they’re old and what happens to cottonwood trees when they get old is they start dropping great big branches and they become a little bit dangerous and hazardous,” Gooderham said, adding cottonwood trees are not the best trees to have around a publicly accessible path.
He also noted the cottonwoods are being replaced by new younger evergreen trees.
Gooderham also mentioned that he would be going out to the site Thursday to make sure all the work is being done according to plans.
