The headline on page three of the May 5 Morning Star should have read, “Pickleball courts moving ahead without consultation with the local community.”
The Greater Vernon Advisory Committee agreed in principle to provide a $300,000 grant for construction and leased land at Marshall Field for 12 pickleball courts, but it didn’t consult with the people living near by who will be impacted by this decision.
Potentially, 48 people could be playing pickleball at any given time with the sound reverberating throughout this very large, open and flat area.
Perhaps knowing how vehemently the Coldstream community protested pickleball courts in their neighbourhood, GVAC didn’t want to face a similar backlash from the Okanagan Landing community?
While it was suggested that the Vernon Pickleball Association would work towards getting a roof for the courts at $1 million, almost double the cost to build the courts, we can assume that will not happen any time soon. There is the added pressure of wanting to have the project completed before the BC 55+ Games in September which creates the potential for poor decision-making by our elected officials.
Unfortunately this looks like another example of our local politicians pushing through a plan in order to satisfy a single-issue, lobby group instead of considering the greater community.
Norm and Roxanne Ricard, Archie and Sheila Richard, Paul and Gina Race, Joan Robinson, Ken Hiscoe, Bob and Lin Oldfield, Boni Holmes, Evie Zaitsoff, Shauna Comazzetto and Mike Terrico