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Parksville city council endorses 2022 as the ‘Year of the Garden’

Motion includes backing of ‘minimal mowing’ during the month of May
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(Black Press Media file photo)

Parksville city council has endorsed the declaration of 2022 as the Year of the Garden.

Coun. Teresa Patterson had previously provided council with a notice of motion on Feb. 23, and reintroduced it during the Monday, March 7 council meeting.

“One thing this pandemic has done is allow us to be in our homes and in our gardens a great deal. We know that our bees and insects and everything that help pollinate are disappearing at an alarming rate. And that affects our ability to grow food, but also is affecting our insect-eating birds as well,” she said, adding planting native flowers in gardens does go a long way to help wildlife.

Patterson’s original notice of motion included an endorsement of ‘no mowing’ for the month of May, but had been amended to ‘minimal mowing’ when it was presented to council on March 7.

READ MORE: Parksville Coun. Teresa Patterson looks to declare 2022 as ‘Year of the Garden’

While Coun. Doug O’Brien said he had no problem to declare 2022 as the Year of the Garden, he could not get behind the restriction on mowing, as he saw it as “going a little bit over the edge”.

“I’m just not really ready for any more rules as this particular point,” he said. “We’ve just gone through this pandemic where we had more rules and regulations and mandates and neighbours versus neighbours and so forth.”

O’Brien also discussed the potential impact such an endorsement might have on lawn managers and professional gardens who count on the season of as a start of their revenue.

“It’s not enforceable, but it could prove to be just one more source of dissension,” he said.

When the question was called, Patterson’s motion passed favourably with only O’Brien in opposition.

mandy.moraes@pqbnews.com

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Mandy Moraes

About the Author: Mandy Moraes

I joined Black Press Media in 2020 as a multimedia reporter for the Parksville Qualicum Beach News, and transferred to the News Bulletin in 2022
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