A number of residents have written to the Town of Deep River to express concerns about access to Hill Park. This comes following an incident on June 1st, 2022, where one youth was seriously injured and emergency services used a piece of land that’s been declared surplus by the town.
Former Mayor and local resident Joan Lougheed wrote a letter to council saying access from MacDonald Street to Hill Park was essential in quickly and efficiently getting emergency response vehicles in to provide first aid. Lougheed urged the town to reconsider declaring this surplus land and to maintain this area as an entrance to Hill Park.
Another local resident says if the section of land had been backfilled, there would not have been enough space for ambulances and paramedics to access the scene of the accident. A third local resident asked council to review their intentions regarding rezoning the block of land at the bottom of Hill Park as it provides a flat, even access point, close to where accidents typically occur.
Deep River Mayor Suzanne D’Eon tells myFM that town staff will be discussing options with emergency services in the coming week. A meeting with town staff, police, firefighters and paramedics is scheduled sometime in the next week to go over access to the park. D’Eon says the rezoning of the land has gone through, but adds the town can still decide to keep the lands and a further report will come back before council at a later date.
(written by: Rudy Kadlec)
