Imagine Manhattan without Central Park. All great cities have great green space!

One of the things I love about Mississauga are our many trails.

Long walks along its many trails is a favourite way of spending time with my family.

But the fact is, here in suburban Mississauga, we already are short on green space. Hard to believe but comparing apples to apples we have less green space in suburban Ward 7 than Manhattan does. Ward 7 is not alone in this challenge, across Mississauga there is a shortage of green space. 

Now consider all the intensification that the province is mandating for Mississauga and the lack of green space becomes even more scarce. 

Here is an example: when the Metrolinx lands next to the Cooksville Go station came up for sale, I pushed hard for the City of Mississauga to purchase these crown lands. Unfortunately, it was simply too expensive for the city to purchase. 

That was a shame because crown lands are among the last of the significant open public spaces that can be turned into green space

The reason it was too expensive is that the levy the City collects from developers to fund green space purchases have not kept up with land prices. 

It is important to point out that green space is not purchased from tax payer dollars. Instead, it is purchased from a special levy on developers.

The Metrolinx lands were eventually purchased by a developer and will become the site of more intensification. With each such incident the opportunities to increase green space diminish. This has to change.

There are three things I have done to increase green space in Ward 7

1. Voted to increase the green space levy on developers.
2.  Laser like focus on acquiring new green space. 
3. Expanded the pool of properties in our ward that city staff have authority to purchase should the opportunity present itself.

Finally, I am bringing forward the timeline to convert the newly purchased 20 acres into usable park space. Ward 7 residents will have the opportunity to be engaged in the park design process through community meetings in the Fall of 2022 with construction to begin in 2023. (The original plan was to wait until all of the identified purchases had been made delaying the use of green space for an undefined time.)

If you want more green space, pledge your support for Dipika here.