In this contributed aerial photo, almost a thousand protesters can be seen Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015 in a human chain outlining park lands which would be redeveloped if the plans come to fruition.
Image Credit: Chris Cornett/Photos By Chris
September 28, 2015 - 2:29 PM
PENTICTON - The turnout at a protest to bring attention to trees in Skaha Park which might be lost to development exceeded organizers’ expectations Sunday afternoon, Sept. 28.
Save Skaha Park society spokesperson Lisa Martin says the event, which was the fourth protest organized by the group to bring attention to the City of Penticton's plans to allow a developer to build a waterslide in a portion of Skaha Park, was the best attended so far. Almost a thousand people lined up around the perimeter of the proposed redevelopment area Sunday afternoon.
“I’d originally hoped for 400, which would have been enough for people to hold hands extended, but instead, we had them shoulder-to-shoulder, with some extras,” she says.
Martin says the nine members of the society meet weekly to discuss ways of keeping the protest alive.
“We realize we need to keep this foremost in people’s minds. We’ve said from the beginning, it’s not over."
Previously the society staged two rallies to save the park in front of city hall, and more recently staged a Music in the Park event.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015