Planned B.C. Hydro substation at Vancouver’s Nelson Park faces scrutiny from COPE commissioners

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      Two incoming Vancouver park commissioners are expected to raise questions about a proposed B.C. Hydro substation in the West End.

      Elected on October 20, Gwen Giesbrecht and John Irwin are with the Coalition of Progressive Electors, whose platform include protection of city parks.

      “There’s a lot of questions that need to be answered,” Giesbrecht told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview.

      During the campaign, COPE vowed to fight the encroachment on parks by other uses, including development, traffic routes, and power distribution facilities.

      COPE specifically wrote in its platform that it will oppose a B.C. Hydro substation under Nelson Park in the West End.

      In September this year, B.C. Hydro and the Vancouver school board concluded a deal for the sale of the subsurface parcel at the Lord Roberts Elementary Annex school site.

      The underground parcel will be used for the construction of a power substation, a project that is projected to take five years.

      Lord Roberts Annex is adjacent to Nelson Park.

      Based on B.C. Hydro’s proposal, the utility company will lay power cables under the park to connect to the substation.

      The cables could be routed through Comox, Thurlow, and Nelson streets.

      The project requires approval from the City of Vancouver, which owns the park and streets, and park board.

      “The premise is that they will, you know, dig up park, put in the substation, and build the park again over top of it, and that… it will all be fine and dandy,” Giesbrecht noted.

      However, Giesbrecht said that this will involve the disruption of a neighbourhood park that serves a densely-populated area of the city.

      “It takes a long time to create that kind of a green space,” she said.

      According to Giesbrecht, the choice of the spot is “not a good idea”.

      “We have a shortage of green space… and park areas throughout Vancouver, and we’re just not wanting to see any of that being put at risk,” the incoming COPE park commissioner said.

      Based on B.C. Hydro projections, the first three years will involve excavation and the construction of the underground substation.

      The next two years will include installing all equipment to run the substation.

      The B.C. Hydro and Vancouver school board deal is worth up to $75 million.

      The school board will use the money to build two new schools, including a replacement for the Lord Roberts Elementary Annex.

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