Fredericton residents protest removal of large hedges that hid former tent city
About 20 people gathered outside Government House in Fredericton on Monday morning to protest against the city's plans to take down about 120 metres of eastern white cedar hedges that run along the walking trail.
Jeff Trail, deputy chief administrative officer for the City of Fredericton, said staff have already removed about one-third of the hedge because of safety concerns.
The area is often used by people who are homeless and set up tents along the hedge, which provides privacy and added protection during the summer months. There are no tents there now, and the city doesn't want their return.
"Removing the hedge improves the sight lines," Trail said. "There's an area there that was hidden from both Woodstock Road and even the driveway into the back of the Victoria Health Centre … it provides lots of opportunity for doing things out of sight."
Safety concerns
Until January, between 20 and 30 tents were up between the hedge and the trail running along the St. John River, Trail said.
Cleanup crews found 1,000 needles in one tent, and hundreds of used syringes in and around the hedge, which he said was being used as a bathroom.
The city has already removed about 40 metres of the hedge between Government House and the Victoria Health Centre and plans to remove the rest in the fall.
Corinne Hersey, who teaches at St. Thomas University, was one of the people protesting the decision on Monday morning. She said there needs to be a larger discussion before the remaining hedges are also removed.
"We do know that there was a lot of garbage and needles, so I understand the concern, but the way that it's done, to just remove them, not tell anybody what's being done, then to have no place for people to go except to create another tent city isn't the answer," said Hersey, who plans to run for mayor in the next municipal election.
Migratory birds
Last week, Andrea Francis went to work at the Victoria Health Centre and said she was devastated to find one of the hedges had been taken down.
Later that day, she saw city workers starting to take down another hedge, so she went out and stood in the way of their equipment. Francis was concerned about migratory birds that live in the hedge.
"I'm an animal lover and environmentalist, lover of nature," she said. "I really care about retaining what green spaces we have left in Fredericton."
Francis wants the city to bring in a wildlife expert to check the hedges for birds living there. She also wants the city to consult and listen to residents.
Trail said the city is holding off on removing the rest of the hedge because of concerns that birds may be nesting there, but the rest of the removal will happen in early fall.
Trail said public consultation isn't usually required for work such as this.
