Cootes to Escarpment Park will link 1,500 hectares

BURLINGTON Land “securement” will be looked at this year by a group working to create an ambitious Hamilton-Burlington park system.

The move is included in a report to city councillors about the Cootes to Escarpment Park System proposal. The park, which has been endorsed by Burlington, is intended to link and manage the 1,500 hectares of natural areas owned by eight different agencies in Hamilton, Dundas and the Aldershot area.

This year, a steering committee overseeing the project says it will work on a governance model for collaboration between partners, but says one of its primary goals is to connect and expand the existing green space in the project area.

“In 2011, the steering committee will be developing and implementing a land securement strategy to help achieve this goal,” says a staff report to councillors.

“This strategy will include an assessment and recommendations for the conservation of each of the potential additional park lands … It will also include a strategy for promoting stewardship on properties adjacent to park system lands.”

The strategy will be developed with $149,800 given to the steering committee by the Ontario Trillium Foundation in January. The funding will also go toward a communications and marketing strategy for 2011. Orland Conservation has been hired to assist in the development and implementation of the strategy.

The park system has been given $235,000 from the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation since 2007 to help it get off the ground. This helped employ a project manager for one year.

Comments

[marty]

What will it look like on a map? will there be bycicle & walking paths?