Here is what makes Ambleside look like a ‘third world country’

The poor maintenance of parks and washrooms continue to rile West Vancouver citizens.

In the last one year alone, several citizens have written letters to the council urging them to pay attention to grimy, unkempt washrooms and apparent lack of bylaw control in West Vancouver parks.

And yet again, an infuriated citizen is taking the council to task while wondering why one of the most wealthy municipalities in Lower Mainland can’t even meet the basics infrastructure needs.

The men and womens washrooms in Ambleside, the citizen wrote, are what he calls a ‘total disgrace’.

“The units are extremely dirty, with the paint peeling, mould everywhere, the floor is grey and there is bad smell and everything looks like it is a third world country. I would not bring children here in any circumstances,” he said.

At another occasion, the washrooms were closed at 7 pm despite the rules that they should be open until 10 pm, he noted. It is a starkly different picture in similar communities down south where rest places along the Highway are manned by volunteers and in much better shape than West Vancouver, the citizen said.

“Would the council and the district employees accept such filth and unsanitary conditions at the washrooms in your building? Have any of the council member or district employees ever used the washrooms at the Ambleside or Dundarave? Would they bring their children or grandchildren here?”

Responding to the citizen, manager of bylaw and licencing, said the district plans to renovate the washrooms at Ambleside Park soon.

Sarah Almas, the manager of bylaws, said the district has renovated washrooms in Dundarave, including the installation of new partitions, fixtures, and repainting.

“The Ambleside washrooms are next public washroom facility on the district’s schedule to be renovated with funding approval,” she said.

Almas said all washrooms are cleaned on a regular basis, and frequency increases with busier times. She said the district staff is presently working with the contractor to address the cleanliness of Ambleside washrooms.

District of West Vancouver has heard litany of such complaints from residents frustrated by lack of proper washrooms and derelict condition of local parks. In December, a citizen complained–along with pictures he took–about big water puddles in the John Lawson Park. He even offered to donate $100 for a load of gravel.

Last year, another citizen wrote a scathing letter to the district chiding them for delays in renovating the washrooms. The citizen noted that she had sent a similarly worded letter two years ago.

“Two years later, nothing has changed. Why in a city that can afford upgrades to other municipal buildings do we have to put up with these third-world conditions in our city parks,” she said.