https://www.ours-winnipeg.com/ save-blumberg-letter-template. html
OURS-Winnipeg (Outdoor Urban Recreational Spaces - Winnipeg) was organized 10 years ago in December 2011.
The motivation for the formation of OURS-Winnipeg was the plan by the City of Winnipeg to sell public municipal golf courses for commercial and residential development. Citizens from across the City of Winnipeg came together to advocate on behalf of urban greenspaces and save greenspace from development.
Greenspace advocacy was launched across the city in 2011 and over the last ten years, there have been both losses and victories. The significant early victory was the halt to the proposed sale of the municipal golf courses and their retention as greenspaces and outdoor recreation locations for both summer and winter.
2021 was the year that saw a major leap forward in the protection of urban greenspaces in Winnipeg.
The 2021 greenspace amendments to City of Winnipeg planning documents OurWinnipeg (2045) and Complete Communities 2.0 included a Master Greenspace Plan and Nature Corridor Plan along with a Biodiversity Policy.
The amended planning documents move Winnipeg into compliance with the United Nations Decade of Ecosystem Restoration launched in June, 2021 which states that greenspaces must be at the heart of urban planning.
GREENSPACE AMENDMENTS - A MAJOR VICTORY:
These amendments would not be passed without your strong advocacy for greenspace.
We also recognize the outstanding collaboration and support by Councillor Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) in drafting and securing the passage of these important amendments.
Amendments:
On June 24, 2021 Council approval of OurWinnipeg 2045 By-law No. 120/2020 included a recommendation that Policy 2.20 be replaced with revised wording:
2.20 Leverage Green Infrastructure. Create a master greenspace and natural corridor plan by-law that enables conservation, management, restoration, and enhancement of the inherent valued and ecological functioning of parks, waterways, natural areas and systems year round, to support the environment, advance climate change adaption and mitigation, and increase quantity of such lands that can be accessed for recreation, social interaction, active living and connection of people and nature with nature, as population growth occurs.
Council also directed that funding for the development for a Master Greenspace and Natural Corridor Plan By-law be referred to the 2022 budget process.
Council Approval of By-law No. 119/2020, the Complete Communities Direction Strategy 2.0 included the following recommendations be added to the Parks and Recreation Chapter, namely:
4.8 a) Consideration of municipal golf courses as major nature preserves and greenspace
4.8 b) A Biodiversity Policy for Winnipeg that will detail, among other things, an ecological network that is interdependent, reciprocal, healthy, connected and integrated with the built environment and life on the land; one rooted in indigenous traditional knowledge of land, community, and ecology. This should include a requirement for an annual report to Council structured I line with the Durban Commitments Local Governments for Biodiversity
4.8 c) A Corridor Plan to protect, and enhance Winnipeg forests, green spaces, natural environment and natural area corridors including Winnipeg’s connecting riverbank corridors
4.8 d) Tracking the status of greenspace and regular reporting to the public and Council.
NEXT IMMEDIATE CHALLENGE:
Save greenspace at John Blumberg Golf Course
The report on the sale of the John Blumberg Golf Course is to be on the agenda of the Property and Development Committee Meeting on Monday, January 17.
Your help is needed to save this greenspace and publicly owed family golf course.
Recent Media - Winnipeg Free Press Dec 4, 2021 Blumberg green space is worth saving
Send a letter to Mayor and Councillors.
Template at
https://www.ours-winnipeg.com/ save-blumberg-letter-template. html
Save Blumberg Letter Template - OURS-WINNIPEG (OUTDOOR URBAN RECREATIONAL SPACES)
Act Now! WRITE TO WINNIPEG’S MAYOR AND COUNCILLORS AND ASK THEM to save John Blumberg Golf Course from sale and development and to protect and enhance this greenspace and natural area for...
www.ours-winnipeg.com
The City of Winnipeg owns this large riverside property and once it is sold for development it is gone forever.
