Residents stunned after city crews chop down mature trees for Port Coquitlam park upgrades

Port Coquitlam, B.C. -

Work is underway to renovate a park in the heart of Port Coquitlam, but some residents are upset after seeing longstanding trees get chopped down.

Caron Graham has lived in Port Coquitlam most of her life. She describes the trees and gardens in Veterans Park, beside City Hall, as an oasis in the middle of the city. She was devastated to see several trees, some of them upwards of 30 feet tall, being cut down by city crews this week.

“I actually didn’t sleep for the first two nights,” said Graham. “In the last few years, we’ve adopted a pedestrian lifestyle, and the trees provide so much to the community.”

City staff says the trees are being cut down to make way for a revitalization of the civic centre, including Veterans Park and Leigh Square. Graham was aware of the renovations, which have been in the works since 2017, but she did not know mature trees would be chopped down as a result.

“Normally, they have placards put up to explain what’s going on and to allow people to react, but I feel like (the city) didn’t want a reaction,” Graham said.

City crews are removing a total of 21 trees from the area, including 30-year-old flowering cherry trees and two red oak trees. It’s half the number of trees that the city had originally planned to cut down.

“City council has approved a design for this space that maximizes its use and opens it up for the community,” said Joshua Frederick, director of engineering and public works for Port Coquitlam.

As part of the park upgrades, the city will be planting 45 trees, which is more than double the number of trees being removed. Frederick adds some of the trees toppled this week were dying, but not everyone agrees.

“In my opinion, no, they were not,” said Nancy Furness, a plant physiologist with the Wondrous Tree Fellowship, formerly known as the PoCo Heritage Trees Group.

“They were generally in good health. I have requested, through Freedom of Information, access to the arborist’s report. I’d really like to see what the report says.”

Frederick says he understands residents’ anger and disappointment with the removal of trees, but says the city has a well-crafted plan to update the park while maintaining the small-town charm of the city centre.

“We’re going to do everything we can to make this a thriving green space and also retain as many significant trees as we can on site,” he said.

Graham welcomes the renovation and appreciates the progressive work being done by the city. Her problem, she says, is with an apparent lack of public input around the trees.

“Going forward, I hope there’s collaboration not only with business stakeholders, development stakeholders, and economic stakeholders, but also citizens,” she said.

The city says there’s been extensive consultation with residents over the past several years, including feedback on the park improvement plan from 400 Port Coquitlam citizens in the 2021 budget survey.

The Veterans Park upgrades are slated for completion by November, in time for Remembrance Day.