New 25-acre park proposed for Transcona

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This article was published 07/02/2024 (617 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeggers could some day be walking and cycling through a new nature reserve on what is now unforested former agricultural land on the north side of Transcona.

The proposed Mother Earth Nature Park (to be located on the south side of Gunn Road, next to tracks used by the Central Manitoba Railway) would be a 25-acre open space including trails and a diverse assortment of trees.

Coun. Russ Wyatt (Transcona) says he hopes to eventually get elementary and junior high school students out to plant trees as part of the process.

“I’ve already talked to Trees Canada,” Wyatt said Wednesday. “My hope is young people will be involved to do something positive with tree planting.

“This park will be natural. It is not playing field. It will be more like a forest and we will plant all variety of species.”

However, creation of such a green space isn’t going ahead just yet.

A recommendation will come before next week’s executive policy committee meeting, asking City of Winnipeg’s civil service to put together a plan for how the site is developed.

Wyatt said once completed, the park will serve a double duty.

“It will serve as a buffer zone between a heavy industrial area and residential,” he said. “A company there has a foundry and you can see the red from the hot metal. You don’t want to live beside that. This will create a separation between industrial and residential.”

A city report says the new park’s sign would be in both English and the appropriate Indigenous language and a contest would be held for elementary students to design its logo.

Anders Swanson of the Winnipeg Trails Association said he likes the idea of a new park with paths which connect it to the nearby Transcona Trails.

“We’re all for making sure we have more access for everyone,” he said. “The recommendations here make sense.”

Almost a decade ago, the land south of Gunn Road and west of Redonda Street was set aside in a development agreement for establishing a nature reserve, after the city agreed to plans for a nearby subdivision.

Civic officials also approved a plan at the time that, while the open space would be improved and naturalized, it would be done at no expense to the city.

A city report said a portion of the site could also be used for a future dog park.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca