Hedge concern drives a wedge

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This article was published 10/10/2025 (219 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The construction of a sidewalk has caused an uproar in a tiny heritage neighbourhood nestled by the Assiniboine River.

Some residents of Armstrong’s Point are upset with the location of the sidewalk chosen by the city, which they fear will destroy a decades-old hedge of eastern white cedar trees.

The cosy neighbourhood, often referred to as “the Gates,” was designated a heritage district by the city in 2019; most of its small number of homes were built between 1882 and 1920.

As a result, a permit is required to alter any property on the few streets in the tree-lined enclave.

The resident who owns the land with the cedar hedge, Jennifer Plester, took the matter to court after she learned City of Winnipeg officials did not get a permit for the sidewalk project.

An interim injunction that was granted July 18 temporarily stopped the work. However, the city later obtained the necessary permit.

“Why are we ripping up green space and most certainly… killing the trees?” Plester said Thursday. “They’re not going to survive… it’s a sensitive tree.”

Plester said she hopes the city will pause the project and further consult neighbourhood residents about the sidewalk, which is slated for the south side of Blanchard Avenue between East Gate and West Gate.

The sidewalk is part of a neighbourhood-wide road renewal project.

Plester said she doesn’t oppose the road work or the construction of a sidewalk on Blanchard Avenue, but she’s concerned about the proposed location.

“It’s an old neighbourhood, the roads need to be redone,” said Plester, who purchased her property in 2015. “I like sidewalks, I have nothing against sidewalks… I just don’t want it right there, because it will kill my hedge, it will kill my trees.”

The latest design — 1.5 metres across, which is narrower than a typical sidewalk, and slightly to the north of the original plan — is a compromise meant to mitigate potential damage to the cedars, said Fort Garry — Fort Rouge Coun. Sherri Rollins, who represents the area.

Rollins said she’s spoken with other residents and families of students who attend Westgate Mennonite Collegiate, a private Grade 6-12 school in the area, who are happy a sidewalk will be built on Blanchard.

“There’s a lot of folks who want a new road and a new sidewalk, but here we are,” said Rollins, adding accessibility advocates could criticize the revamped design.

She argued there has been significant consultation and planning to mitigate damage to the hedge and trees.

The move to obtain an injunction, noted the councillor, was atypical.

City spokesman Adam Campbell said as part of the heritage permit application, the city redesigned the project to minimize impact on the cedars and other trees.

The new walkway, he said, will better connect the neighbourhood for pedestrians and improve safety and accessibility.

He said some preliminary work may begin this fall, depending on the weather, but the remainder will be completed next year, all under the eye of an arborist in an effort to protect the hedge.

Plester was not given standing to appeal the heritage permit at city hall, she said.

Plester said a landscape architect told her the sidewalk will eventually kill the sensitive cedar hedge. A private arborist also warned about similar damage.

Leanne Muir, a University of Manitoba instructor and a landscape architect, filed an affidavit in support of the court injunction application.

She said in court papers the hedge carries “significant ecological and cultural value,” but any disturbance to the roots could kill it.

Muir said she has visited the area on a number of occasions with her classes to “show my students what is possible in a landscape with long-term attention to vegetation.”

Sandra Butterfield was involved in lobbying efforts to have the neighbourhood — which the Manitoba Historical Society says was developed as a “suburban haven for well-to-do families in the late 19th and early 20th centuries” — designated a heritage district.

“The hedge means a lot to a lot of people… that hedge means something,” said Butterfield, who has lived in the neighbourhood 34 years.

The more than 30 cedars were planted in the 1980s by a longtime resident of the neighbourhood, Jim Slater, who obtained the young trees from the Whiteshell.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca