Tour of Dartmouth Commons shows why its worth saving: resident

By Joanie Veitch - The Weekly News
About 35 people took notes as they walked through the historic Dartmouth Common lands last Wednesday night. The reason? They want to have a say in the master plan for the area.
"We grew up here, but we've been gradually watching it get nibbled away for other purposes. We don't want to see this space get lost," said Marion Mazerall, who took part in the walk along with her sister Pat and friend Beth Lahey.
As they walked across the site of the former Park School, now home to a new outdoor gym, the three women commented that despite being lifelong residents of Dartmouth, they'd not been aware of the full extent of the Dartmouth Commons land.
"I had no idea so much of this area is Common land," said Pat Mazerall. "That's been part of the problem, people just didn't realize what we have."
The city is working on a master plan for the Dartmouth Commons area. In April, HRM and employees from CBCL, the engineering firm hired to consult on the project, held a public meeting at Hawthorn School as part of a three-month consultation process to take a recommendation to regional council later this year.
The original 150-acre parcel of Dartmouth Common lands has been whittled down to just 99 acres, although only 56 of that is still open space as the rest has been used for public infrastructure, such as the Dartmouth Sportsplex, roads and school buildings.
The master plan aims to balance the need for such uses with protecting the remaining green space.
During the two-hour walking tour of the Dartmouth Common land CBCL consultants Steffen Kaubler and Gordon Smith each lead a group of walkers around the park, pointing out important view planes and historic sites along the way.
"We wanted to look at some of the things that were brought up at that meeting and get out on site to actually see the space," said Holly Richardson, policy coordinator in the Real Property Planning department with HRM, as the group walked toward the gazebo on the hill overlooking Halifax Harbour, a spot Marion Mazerall said used to be known as the "summer house."
Along with protecting the historic common land, the master plan will also look at ways to enhance and promote the site in the hopes more people will become aware of its value to the community as a whole.
joanie.veitch@gmail.com
To find out more about the Dartmouth Common Master Plan process go to www.halifax.ca/RealPropertyPlanning/DCMP/index.html