DNV Mayoral candidate Mathew Bond and incumbent council candidate, Jordan Back, announced their commitment to increase the number of artificial turf playing fields (ATF) in the District of North Vancouver.
In a press release, the duo said their plan would see a new ATF and running track built at the new Handsworth Secondary, in addition to a commitment to fast tracking the build out of the ATF at Inter River Park.
“Coming out of the isolation of the pandemic, it’s never been more important for our kids to experience the positive mental and physical benefits of playing a team sport. Our field sports community has some of the highest participation rates in the region, the number of kids playing continues to grow, and the playing facilities in our community are falling behind. Youth are forced to leave class early to participate in school sports and to travel back and forth across the North Shore to play. It is time we changed that.” said mayoral candidate Mathew Bond. “If elected with a supportive Council, we will immediately direct staff to put together a funding model that would see a healthy, sustainable and safe ATF and running track built at Handsworth and we won’t stop there. We’ve been waiting for the promised ATF at Inter River Park for years. I will make it a priority to start that project early in 2023.
Council candidate Jordan Back has also committed to doing what he can to make playing on gravel a thing of the past. “As we look to create a community that works for young families, first rate playing facilities are an important part of this picture. Projects like the ATF field at Argyle are taking way too long to complete and point to the need for a new level of collaboration with partners like School District 44. This is something that I commit to making a key priority in the next term of Council,” said Back. “For the first time in decades, there is no longer a synthetic running track in the west side of the District of North Vancouver and, despite having a brand new school, the Handsworth community has lost the running track that was so well utilized by both the School community and broader community. We need to do better and I commit to finding a way to get this done.”
Artificial turf? I understand that Boston has taken the future forward step of banning artificial turf. If we are committed to a safe environment, we should be doing the same.
Sure, no artificial turf fields, come by and see a sports practice in mud and clouds of dust that gets into kids’ lungs twice a week,
these days there is non toxic artificial turf. Or you may wish to ask the city to fully maintain the grass just so children can play during a very humid winter… which is next to impossible.
And will the Argyle artificial turf, when we get it have a running track attached to it? It would be nice to have a running track in Lynn Valley. We have none!
Tweedle dee and tweedle dumb. A vote for these two is a voting block in council…