Pittock Opportunities

Tuesday, 23 September 2014 04:56

City of Woodstock and UTRCA looking to expand recreational access to Pittock

WOODSTOCK - The City of Woodstock and the Upper Thames Conservation Authority are in talks to expand recreational access at Pittock Lake.

The two parties have been in talks for more than a year now on a new management model to help both sides manage their lands better.

UTRCA General Manager Ian Wilcox says there are a couple of parcels of land that currently don't have any active management or planned public access that will be looked at for recreational opportunities for the city.

"Probably the biggest change for the Conservation Authority would be allowing the community to come into the north side of Pittock Reservoir which now is our day use area but there is a fee to come into that part of the park, we would make that free access and the community could then cross Pittock Dam to the south shore."

The long term implication of their negotiations would provide the potential for a trail system that would stretch from the west end of Dundas Street, along the Burgess and Standard Tube Trails, around Pittock Lake and connect to the far east of the City at County Road 4.

Wilcox says while it's still part of the negotiations, he doesn't see these projects coming with a large price tag.

"For the most part it's a matter of shifting revenues between us to make sure expenses are covered that are fair. Whether it's Conservation Authority staff who are helping manage some of these lands or city staff we have to figure that out still and just make sure it's a fair arrangement."

Wilcox says some of the driver of this has been financial as Pittock is very valued by users but throughout its history has struggled to make ends meet financially for the Conservation Authority.

Wilcox says for all of the changes to be implemented it would likely be the spring of 2016.

"The city is looking for some community input so we need to do some listening first then the city and ourselves will sit down and figure out all of the details and come up with some agreements that allows these things to happen. Council will have to approve it. Our board will have to approve it so there's a lot of background kind of administrative stuff that has to go on."

Wilcox says in his mind, going forward Pittock Lake becomes the center piece of the city and should do nothing but benefit it with the changes they are proposing.