B.C. landowner wants guerrilla garden charity kicked off Calgary lot
Donna Clarke and Mac Hughes, 10, are discouraged after their efforts to turn a vacant Calgary lot into a charity garden ended when the lot’s owner demanded they leave. Photograph by: Christina Ryan, Calgary Herald.
“I would have to claim victory in the fact that this issue has been brought to light and given attention”
By Jason Markusoff
Postmedia News
May 23, 2012
Excerpt:
CALGARY — For many reasons, Donna Clarke picked the wrong place for her bid to beautify and reclaim land with soil, tires and taters.
The vacant lot, next door to her own rental house in a southwest Calgary neighbourhood, is around the corner from the home of city councillor John Mar. He called in the authorities this week against what he mistakenly thought were Occupy Calgary squatters.
The fatal blow to the Potatoes for the People project came Tuesday, when the Vancouver-based owner told the city’s bylaw director he wanted the guerrilla garden off his company’s property immediately.
“It’s trespassing. We weren’t consulted and we weren’t asked,” said Randolph Pratt, director of the mortgage firm that took over a cluster of properties along 17th Avenue S.W. through foreclosure in 2009.
“It’s inappropriate use of our site.”
4 comments
“took over a cluster of properties along 17th Avenue S.W. through foreclosure in 2009″…
Ahh, THAT kind of owner.
Not very inclined towards building good community cred. this would have been a perfect thing for the “company” to applaud and jump on board.
Nasty mortgage firm, perhaps they’ll hit hard times and sink into an abyss, after which someone with a real USE for the property will get it.
How about a bylaw that requires property standards for derilict lots to be used in some function or another. Or pay hefty taxes. This way you put a requirement on speculators such as mortgage company’s to maintain a community standard. And get some revenue out of what otherwise would be lost.
Shame on Randolph Pratt and his company..unnamed I notice. I feel sad for the dissapointed woman and young boy who are doing a positive deed. I wonder how Randolph Pratt et al would like it if they were trying to do something for their community and a unscrupulous city counsellor, who did not even take the time to ask tattled on them? It is class warfare at it’s worst..starve them out?
I do understand where both points of view are coming from. The lot should be used for things of this nature, food production for the community, or the food banks, educational growing, etc.
The lady in this story should have found the owner of the property and asked for permission to use the plot for a growing season. It is their land, and its very similar to someone walking onto your front yard and laying down some tires.
There is a way to go about things and she is half way there.
Ask permission from land owners before you begin your urban farming.
Check out http://urbancityfarms.com to see how someone in Calgary has done this in the City Core.
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