Vancouver Park Board votes to amend motion for dedicated sensory park

The Vancouver Park Board has amended a motion to create a dedicated sensory park for children with disabilities, stating it has similar parks already planned.

The motion was tabled by ABC park board commissioner Jas Virdi, who wanted to construct a park designed to meet the unique needs of neurodiverse children, those with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and those with mobility challenges.

On Monday, the board heard from 37 speakers, including families with autism and disability advocates, who spoke in favour of the park. Following the public input, the board introduced several amendments that replaced Virdi’s initial motion.

Some of those amendments include asking staff to conduct a review on accessible and inclusive parks and playgrounds in Vancouver, and assessing how much money would be required for a sensory park.

Laura Christensen, an independent commissioner, said while she supports the intent behind Virdi’s motion, it lacked funding, a timeline and a specific location.

“This wasn’t amended for political reasons,” she said. “This is really about improving the parks for Vancouver families.”

ABC commissioners weren’t happy with the amendments, ultimately voting to oppose them. At Monday’s meeting, Virdi said the park board failed to listen to speakers.

“You didn’t listen to any of them today,” he said. “This is why this 100-year-old park board needs to be abolished, because of just that: It’s 100 years old.”

Commissioner Scott Jensen took issue with Virdi’s claim, telling Virdi he cannot assume whether a commissioner was listening or not.

Sergio Cocchia, a board member and founder of the Pacific Autism Family Network, said he doesn’t support the amendments and would have liked to see the board vote to implement Virdi’s motion.

“This amendment discounted everything that was in the original motion and said to me, 'It doesn't matter what you people said, we already made up our mind,'” he said.

Cocchia added numerous families have reached out to him since Monday, confused about the outcome.

“What they wanted the commissioners to hear, I believe, is that we’re not presently served,” he said. “We feel that this would really benefit our community. We feel that your approach to date has not been sufficient and here’s an opportunity within this motion to do something more meaningful.”

Christensen said she was apologetic to the families and advocates that spoke Monday and thinks the board could have done a better job in communicating the purpose of the amendment.

“We’re not trying to make this not happen,” she said. “It’s just that it’s already on the way and happening.”

Christensen is referring to a July 2022 motion that directs staff to develop and implement accessible and inclusive design at Vancouver parks. She said there are also five accessible parks that are in the works that are part of the Van Play strategy.

ABC commissioner Marie-Claire Howard disputes this, saying the park Virdi had proposed is completely different from the one Christensen is referring to.

“Virdi’s motion was to create a one-of-a-kind park. Something that has never been done before,” she said.