IN recent weeks, the issue of the importance and desirability of having open green spaces in the city of Georgetown has been much discussed. The catalyst which occasioned such discussions was the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown attempting to change the status of the Bel Air Park Playground and the Farnum Playground. The latter was gifted by the Farnum family to provide recreational facilities for the people, and particularly the children, of Subryanville, Kitty and Campbellville.
In the case of the Bel Air Park Playground, the City Council wished to hand over the ground to a private developer to construct houses, thus obliterating that open green space and congesting the area; and in the case of the Farnum Playground, a large part of it was being handed over to a commercial venture for their exclusive use. These activities of the Council are reminiscent of the Chief Co-operative Officer’s attempt to sell the Lamaha Gardens Playground. This illegality was uncovered just in time, the sale was prevented and the co-operative official was dismissed from his post for this blatant illegality.
Older cities which grew up without the guidance of the concepts of modern city planning became congested and the few large open spaces which managed to survive in these cities became as well-known as the cities themselves. This is the case of Hyde Park in London and Central Park in New York. These parks will be preserved as long as these cities exist.
The physical, aesthetic, social, environmental, ecological, and health benefits which open green spaces bring to cities are well known and we are confident that the professional staff of the Georgetown City Council are well acquainted with them. The existence of open green spaces within the city creates links to physical activity, especially for young people and provides places where the elderly could relax and children, mothers and babies could have their recreation. Open green spaces are linked to physical and mental health benefits and reduce health care costs to the State. They encourage and provide space for community projects. They also help to beautify cities, as many cities worldwide would attest.
Those who are responsible for the management of cities in the modern world, enthusiastically maintain and expand open spaces in the city. It was therefore with much disappointment and disbelief that we learnt of the Georgetown City Council’s desire and activity to reduce the public open spaces in Georgetown. Fortunately, the Government of Guyana, through its Minister of Communities as well as citizens from all walks of life, expressed their strong disapproval of the City Council’s attempt to eliminate green spaces in the city.
The Minister of Communities, writing on his own behalf and on behalf of the Cabinet, to the Mayor and City Council, laid out the procedure the M&CC and the NDCs must follow in respect of green spaces in cities and towns. Though the minister was referring to the Bel Air Park and Farnum playgrounds in particular, his statement captures the essence of city planning and is apposite to all local authorities. We quote excerpts from the minister’s letter to the Mayor and City Council; — “I inform you further that the undertaking by the Council to convert green spaces in residential areas into housing and other commercial ventures does not find favour with the Central Government. Instead, it is the desire and expectation of the administration that local democratic organs undertake to maintain and improve such areas for the benefit of all residents and citizens within the confines of their intended purposes.
“…That it is the view of the Central Government that in the light of the foregoing, it is expected that any undertaking by any Council must have the support of the relevant Constituency Councillor. In fact, before an undertaking is placed on the agenda of a meeting of the Council, the relevant Constituency Councillor must so agree…I further apprise you that I am in favour of the exercise of a moratorium on the conversion or use of green spaces for any purpose, apart from that which such spaces were intended, and based on discussion in Cabinet. My colleagues share that view.
“I advise you of this fact for your consideration for the implementation of such within the municipality.”
There could be no clearer statement that the Mayor and City Council should forthwith desist from attempting to change the status of the green spaces in the city and in particular the Bel Air Park and Farnum playgrounds.
The residents of both Bel Air Park and Subryanville contemplate taking further legal action to compel the City Council to conform to the law and desist from handing over the open green spaces in Bel Air Park and Subryanville to commercial interests, thus depriving these communities of their rights and ability to enjoy the facilities of these green spaces. The Mayor and City Council is urged to let good sense prevail and drop legal action, accede to the demands of citizens, leave the status of green open spaces undisturbed, conform to the dictates of modern city planning and take serious cognisance of the expressed guidance of the Cabinet.
