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CP to continue ripping out gardens

Paul Kendal wakes up thinking about gardening every morning. He has a patch in Arbutus Victory Gardens, which are located along East Boulevard between West 50th and 57th Avenues on Arbutus Corridor.
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CP crews began clearing gardens from the rail line in Marpole last Thursday. Photo Dan Toulgoet

Paul Kendal wakes up thinking about gardening every morning. He has a patch in Arbutus Victory Gardens, which are located along East Boulevard between West 50th and 57th Avenues on Arbutus Corridor. The gardens are managed by the City of Vancouver — gardeners receive permits from the city that are renewed annually. Over the years, most gardens have spilled on to CP railway land.

Kendal’s garden is about half on city and half on CP territory. He and his wife have been growing everything from beans and peas to onions and potatoes.

As of Tuesday morning, Kendal wasn’t sure if or when CP would start clearing along Arbutus Victory Gardens’ particular stretch of Arbutus Corridor.

Last week, crews and heavy machinery ripped out gardens and structures on CP property in Marpole.

That prompted Kendal to move some of his herbs, raspberries and arugula off CP land over the weekend in case clearing work resumes. His apple tree was too big to move.

“It’s pretty shocking that [CP] would do this at all and we’re disgusted that they’re doing this at all. We’re worried about our own garden, of course, but we’re more worried for the people who have had their gardens already ripped up — it’s just unconscionable. I wake up thinking about it.”

While it’s not clear when CP will reach Arbutus Victory Gardens, CP spokeswoman Breanne Feigel told the Courier Tuesday that work would continue later this week.

“We have no estimate on how long the work managing the vegetation and clearing the area will take. It depends on a number of factors including crew and equipment availability to complete the work,” she wrote in an email.

Members of Arbutus Victory Gardens aren’t sitting back. The group penned a letter asking the city to intervene “by any legal means available, such as a stay or a legal suit, to halt the progress of CP’s bulldozers until such a time as it presents a viable business plan that demonstrates intent to spend the millions of its dollars required to bring the tracks up to operational standard and demonstrates serious intent to run trains for economic benefit along the corridor.”

The group also wants the city to stop CP from spraying herbicides, to help gardeners whose gardens were destroyed find new gardens, and to help gardeners move unwieldy garden and plant material if CP continues its effort to clear the land.

Kendal said the group got a response from the mayor’s office reiterating comments Gregor Robertson made to the media last week. It also received a note of “solidarity and support” from Vision Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs.

The mayor’s office provided an update to the Courier Tuesday.

“The city has offered to take part in a mediated discussion with CP to resolve the issues around the Corridor, and we are hopeful that they will agree. CP owns the right of way, so legal options available to the city to prevent the removal of encroachments are limited,” the email sent by Kevin Quinlan, director of policy and communications, stated.

“The city has offered to assist the gardeners in relocating any mature fruit trees that could be impacted by CP. The city’s health bylaw controls the use of pesticides in the city, and staff will be discussing with CP to ensure they are in compliance with our bylaw.”

Feigel cited an August letter to residents along Arbutus Corridor, which stated that work will continue through August and September with a goal of having the entire line ready for train operations in the fall. The letter also noted: “To prevent the re-growth of more stubborn weeds on our right of way, we will be spraying herbicide where necessary. In Canada, CP uses herbicides approved by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency. The list of herbicides which may be used in B.C. is outlined in our approved Integrated Vegetation Management Plan (IVMP). A copy of this plan is available on our website, cpr.ca.”

Feigel told the Courier CP has no updates to share on the status of negotiations with the city.

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