Councillor Believes Rockwood Park Perfect Spot For National Urban Park

A Saint John councillor wants to see a national urban park within the city.

As part of the mandate letter from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, the federal government intends to establish at least one new national urban park in every province and territory.

During a Common Council meeting on Monday, Councillor David Hickey brought a motion forward outlining Rockwood Park as the ideal candidate for New Brunswick.

“We’re talking about 2,200 acres of parkland in Saint John, it’s five minutes from the Uptown core, and that makes a huge difference to establish it as an urban national park.”

During the meeting, Common Council showed its support and authorized staff to take the necessary steps to turn the motion into reality.

“Our staff is now empowered with the ability to go out to the federal government … work with our local member of parliament, and the Ministry of Environment to get ahead of this and be first on the list when it comes to building this plan,” mentioned Hickey.

Hickey mentioned the process is still in the early stages, however, the park is ready for further investments.

“The city has put excellent work into infrastructure, groups such as Saint John Cycling Community Organization has put huge efforts into infrastructure as well, so we want it at the top of the list in the country, as well as New Brunswick.”

“I believe bolstering it as a national urban park would make it all that more as a tourist destination, and offer more in funding to infrastructure,” added Hickey.

In total, the federal government’s target is to have 15 new urban parks by 2030.