Saskatoon group wants city to trim trees to get campers out of their parks

Residents in a Saskatoon neighbourhood are calling on the city to alleviate the issue of encampments in their parks.

They say the city is refusing to trim the trees people are using to shelter under, but officials say it’s not such a simple fix.

At William A. Reid Park and H.S. Sears Park, residents say they’re seeing increasing safety concerns.

“We have beautiful pine trees, but unfortunately, the lower limbs go down to the ground, which provides places for encampments and people to hide in, and doing their drugs, which becomes a major safety concern for the community,” Bob Meyer told CTV News.

The Fairhaven Ward 2 and 3 community Facebook page filled with comments and concerns about encampments in the parks. Through that page, residents are encouraging each other to contact the city asking for trees to be cut to deter people from camping.

“Message parks to clean them up because we've had so many encampments in these trees, and that's just scary for people who still venture through the parks,” he says.

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An added issue occurred on the weekend, according to Meyer, when a group in an encampment started a bonfire under a tree.

Police Chief Cam McBride spoke with CTV News Tuesday morning about what he calls a complex issue.

Later in the day Tuesday, McBride paid a visit to Reid Park, Meyer happened to be there at the same time.

“It is not neighborhood specific. We see individuals choosing to live rough all across the city and so it's not only something that we address on the west side or downtown. We have to address it as a city problem,” McBride said.

Meyer says he appreciates that McBride made the effort to come to the park and chat.

"To run into him the same day I came to meet CTV, yes, I was surprised, but another resident of the community had sent him pictures and concerns about it a while ago,” Meyer said.

City of Saskatoon Parks Manager Thai Hoang reassures residents that they take the safety of residents in parks seriously, but stresses his department deals with tree trimming when it regards the health of the plant.

“However, in speaking with our safety experts as well as police and fire, trimming trees up may actually exacerbate the issue, and make the underside of those trees easier for people to access,” Hoang said.

McBride says a plan is currently being devised which should help address the concerns coming from Fairhaven. It will streamline the process to involve various levels of government so that in a case like this, the city parks department can act outside of their normal scope to tackle issues of safety if deemed necessary by police or fire department officials.