Maple Community Garden

hi,

below is a message sent by Arbutus Victory Gardens to all gardeners of the Arbutus Corridor about a general meeting organized on Thursday in Kitsilano.

Hope to see you there!

 

Good afternoon, gardeners along the Arbutus Corridor!
Most gardeners along the corridor have just received an email from the City of Vancouver about our meeting, this upcoming Thursday, August 28, at 6:30 pm at the Kitsilano Community Centre.

The City of Vancouver may not have the most up-to-date contact list, particularly for some group-organized gardens, such as Maple, Pine, Cypress, Kerrisdale and World in a Garden. If you are from those gardens, could you please share the information about our meeting with your community, even if you are not able to attend personally?

When the Arbutus Victory Gardeners sent an open letter to the City of Vancouver, the City responded by meeting with some of our members and suggested that our most effective means of protest would be if all gardeners along the corridor meet, strategize and speak with one voice. The City helped us find the space to meet and kindly sent out our meeting invitation to Arbutus Corridor gardeners whose contact information they had.

Our plan for the meeting is to share the latest updates about CP and our gardens, and then to break up into small groups to strategize in specific areas in small groups. We need your help! Please attend if possible, but we are also looking for volunteers for the following:

• front door greeters and information desk
• have an interest in any of the following topics and are willing to help lead a small group session: herbicide use, legal injunctions, political action, plant inventories (we can provide you with a guide before the meeting to help with the discussion)
• media facilitation – greet any media that come and provide information

If you are able to assist in any of these areas, please email arbutusvictorygardens@gmail.com.

Thanks again, please spread the word, and we hope to see as many gardeners as possible on Thursday!

The August 2014 Notice To Residents from CPR indicates that in addition to returning the rail line to operating standards, CP will also be spraying herbicides to ‘prevent the re-growth of stubborn weeds on our right of way’ in accordance with their Integrated Vegetation Management Plan 2010.  Maple Community Garden Executive does not have any further detail regarding the proposed use of herbicides by CPR.

Key links to other info on the CPR site:

Arbutus Corridor Overview Map [formal drawings, Maple Garden page 15-17] 

CPR Site Survey [details of Maple Garden ‘encroachment’, page 6]

Arbutus Corridor upgrades [general info, with links to all CPR Notices To Residents]

A reminder that CPR has asked everyone to “…please direct any questions about CP’s activity in your community to our Community Connect line at community_connect@cpr.ca  or 1 800/766-7912.  Questions regarding the future use of this land as it pertains to the Arbutus Corridor Official Development Plan can be directed to the City of Vancouver.”

 

The Arbutus Victory Gardeners have just sent the following letter to Vancouver City Council, local MLAs, MPs, and CP Rail: http://arbutusvictorygardens.wordpress.com/letter-to-city-august-17

It contains four actions they are requesting the City and other government to support them on going forward with CP Rail:

1. intervene by any legal means available, such as a stay of action or a legal suit, to halt the progress of CP’s bulldozers until such time as it presents a viable business plan
2. prevent CP from spraying herbicides;
3. place priority on finding new garden spaces for those whose gardens were destroyed;
4. provide assistance with relocation of plant and garden material.

In their letter to the other gardens, the gardeners from Arbutus Victory also stated:

We were absolutely devastated by the news of the destruction of the Marpole gardens and hope to halt the bulldozers before all other gardens are destroyed. We also hope Marpole gardeners will have new spaces to grow as soon as possible. Please contact us if you wish to work together and strengthen all of our voices going forward.

The Vancouver Sun reports that CPR started clearing community garden encroaching on the right of way in the Arbutus Corridor:

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/Rail+begins+bulldozing+Arbutus+Corridor+gardens+dispute+with/10119146/story.html

More photos of the clearing on GlobalNews:

http://globalnews.ca/news/1508695/photos-cp-rail-begins-clearing-gardens-structures-along-the-arbutus-corridor/

 

Follow link and put “CP begins Arbutus Rail Survey” in the search box, to view CBC The National news clip – August 1, 2014

http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Canada/BC/ID/2481195476/