It appears that Langara Golf Course could get some of its drainage improvements after all.
On Monday night park board commissioners voted to proceed, if feasible, with the first half of the project that was previously approved back in March. The $3 million project was put on hold when it went before city council and Mayor Gregor Robertson introduced a new motion directing staff to approach the park board to discuss turning the golf course into a park with sports fields and to look at options to partner with Musqueam First Nation, Langara College, the YMCA and the province for future use of the land.
The park board has yet to officially respond to the mayor’s motion however on Monday general manager Malcolm Bromley told commissioners that staff anticipates having a report on the issue at a meeting in June.
Non-Partisan Association commissioner Sarah Kirby-Yung presented the motion, calling the course “a fairly significant asset that has some drainage issues.”
“We do have a responsibility to maintain the asset,” she said.
Kirby-Yung said the purpose of her motion was to get the work started. In a previous report to the board, staff noted that the work would have to take place between April and October, with the ideal time frame being April to June.
"The big reality check around that is if you’re going to any type of public discussion or dialogue around a site or a change of use like that, that’s a pretty significant conversation and consultations take a long period of time," she said, adding that it could be four or five years before any material changes are seen.
“In the mean time we still have a golf course to run.”
Langara Golf Course is one of three full-size public golf courses in the city. It opened in July 1926 and is the oldest public golf course in the province. It was reconstructed in 1994 and a decision to reuse site soil resulted in significant drainage issues.
It is currently known as one of the most unplayable golf courses in the Lower Mainland in the winter months. However, according to Kirby-Yung’s motion, it is one of the busiest public courses in the province during the drier months and the number of rounds in last July and August were the highest in the last five years since peaking in 2013. In her motion, Kirby-Yung also noted that it is the only public course in the city that is readily accessible by public transit — it is located within 500 metres of the Langara-49th Avenue Canada Line station.
jkerr@vancourier.com
