Updates
Jan 16: City staff met with P4X (Plant Pool and Plouffe Park Expansion) in December to share a new design that protects and expands Plouffe Park! They said they’d received overwhelming feedback to protect the park and not build on Plouffe. Your support was key to this massive turnaround. We will notify you when the designs are shared on the Engage Ottawa site and open for input.
P4X continues to work towards getting more park space, more trees and active space for community, and less roadways intersecting the park space. As well, we continue to work with the parents of students at Louise Arbour to create a space that is optimal for both the students and the community.
We’re still waiting on the city to put up the updated plans onto Engage Ottawa, and will inform you when that happens.
Plouffe Park has been at the heart of Dalhousie for more than 100 years. It’s our community green space, our recreation hub, our lungs. We all breathe more deeply as we walk by and see our kids playing soccer or skating at Plouffe Park.
Now the City plans to sell it off – so we’ve established this campaign to stop it from happening. Because we need our parkland, now more than ever. And because, if the City sells Plouffe Park, there’s no park in Ottawa that’s not at risk.
STAY INFORMED:
Share your email below and we’ll keep you in the loop with the latest developments. Check out past emails here.
To learn more about the proposal and see #SavePlouffePark in the news, check out our Resources.
Contact us at saveplouffepark@gmail.com with any questions or comments.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What’s so special about Plouffe Park?
Plouffe Park has been at the heart of Dalhousie for more than 100 years. It’s our community green space, our recreation hub, our lungs.
It’s also the only City-owned playing field in Dalhousie, serving a large and growing population – and a community that has less than ¼ the amount of green space called for in the Official Plan.
What’s wrong with the City selling off Plouffe Park for another public use?
The community worked with the City in good faith for more than a decade to develop a plan for Gladstone Village and 1010 Somerset that allows for thousands of new homes, including affordable, family-oriented units, as well as an expanded Plouffe Park and improved recreation facilities.
Instead, the City proposes to sell off Plouffe Park – in contravention of its Parks and Recreation Policy and the City’s Official Plan. If the City gets away with selling off Plouffe Park, there isn’t a park in Ottawa that’s not at risk.
Why do you object to a new school being built on Plouffe Park?
We enthusiastically support the building of a new French-language school to serve local students, but there are alternatives nearby that would better meet students’ needs without depriving the community of much-needed green space. So, there’s no reason to jam a new school onto Plouffe Park.
But haven’t you been offered a replacement park?
Construction on Plouffe Park would begin next year yet the promised green space won’t be available for eight to ten years! That leaves us without a park for the next decade.
This area already has far less parkland than other parts of the city – and its population, including many young families – is about to boom. The new parkland was supposed to be a long-overdue addition to Plouffe Park, not a replacement.
When will decisions be made about Plouffe Park?
The City will host a public information session to present its plan and hear the community’s response in November. Councillor Troster will also host a public meeting. Depending on the results, recommendations will go forward to the Planning Committee, chaired by Councillor Leiper, and the Finance and Corporate Services Committee, chaired by Mayor Sutcliffe, later this year or early in 2024.
