Editor:

Re: Zip lines eyed for Redwood, June 17.

I was appalled to hear of the proposed zip lines and obstacle course proposed for Redwood Park.

I thought it might be a late April Fool’s Day joke?

This would be a tragedy to those of us who have been enjoying this natural gem for years. Not only is Redwood Park home to barred owls, pileated woodpeckers, wrens and numerous species of trees, it is a spot for families and quiet respite from the supposed “city of parks.”

To create a recreational sports area out of this natural space would ruin it.

I hope all of us who have been lucky enough to enjoy this park over the years will contact the City of Surrey to put a stop to this proposal.

Cathy Steele, Surrey

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Redwood was recently designated to become a heritage park, so why would the Surrey parks board even consider this proposal to build a so-called “theme park” within the park itself?

But wait, why not go one further and make it time-sharing between trial bikers/ATVs on weekends and naturalists the rest of the week? The whole concept boggles the mind and is positively ludicrous.

One can only imagine the collateral damage the rest of the park would sustain, not to mention any remaining wildlife, from users of a “theme park.” One has to question who is behind such a nefarious scheme and who stands to gain from it. The last thing we need is to have our parks turned into another Disney World.

Recently, Redwood suffered the blacktopping of 150 metres of trail and the erection thereon of an obtrusive and inappropriate ‘information’ kiosk, followed by the felling of several large coniferous trees under the questionable explanation that they were either diseased or posed a danger to the public. Photographs of the stumps – since cut to ground level and camouflaged with wood chips –showed no visible signs of disease.

I, for one, would like to see Redwood left, as much as possible, in its natural state and reduce this ‘management’ to a bare minimum. Mother nature doesn’t need our help – it is exactly the reverse.

Obviously the Surrey Parks Board just doesn’t get it.

Helga Heine, Surrey

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Open letter to Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts and council.

You can’t be serious – giving consideration to a commercial establishment that would destroy beautiful Redwood Park. Progress is one thing, but this is nothing short of a travesty.

With more and more traffic congestion, and increasingly more impatient drivers creating tension on  our roads, how wonderful to be able to visit this sanctuary. 

We have lost so many trees in the aforementioned name of “progress.”

Please, don’t let this happen to our beloved Redwood.

Muriel Glover, Surrey