Paterson Park for Deltans will be making a presentation to Delta council next Monday as it continues to push the idea of local public ownership of the former Ladner racetrack in its entirety.
The group will present a petition signed by over 1,000 Delta residents and will also request that council re-establish the Paterson Park Task Force.
Last spring, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, which owns a nearly 10acre portion of the park that it acquired in 1993 from the Delta Agricultural Society, announced there is not sufficient demand in the area for a new campus and that it had put the land up for sale.
While the issue of the sale of Kwantlen's land has gone dormant in the last few months, in part because of some confusion over who would receive the funds from any sale, Paterson Park for Deltans believes the time to act is now. The group believes with the provincial government announcement that it will balance the budget through the sale of unused properties, the likelihood that Paterson Park will once again be actively marketed has increased.
Re-establishing the Paterson Park Task Force would provide an opportunity to explore the future of the park in its entirety, including the western portion owned by Delta.
"Very few people seem to disagree with the idea in principle that it's in the best interest of the community for Delta to acquire the property at some point in the future," said member Scott Drake. "What we're saying is this future won't magically appear unless we are prepared and have planned to make it a reality. A starting point is re-establishing the Paterson Park Task Force."
An online version of the petition is available through the Paterson Park for Deltans Facebook page. The group welcomes anyone interested in hearing council's respond to its request to attend the March 11 meeting at municipal hall.
