By Cecilia Nasmith

The municipal land inventory exercise, with its focus on identifying land suitable for affordable housing, does not mean parks will be given over to housing developments, Interim Director of Building and Planning Services Rob Franklin said at Monday's committee-of-the-whole meeting of Cobourg council.

“The town owns hundreds of properties, many of them road allowances that might not be opened, one-foot road widths, pieces of storm infrastructure, buildings like Victoria Hall – there's a host of properties Cobourg owns,” Franklin listed.

“We are trying to understand what sites might potentially be used for affordable housing. That's the short list,” he said, referring to five properties identified in his report – the Charles Street parking lot, the Hibernia Street parking lot, the former tannery property at 96 Alice St., the Cobourg Memorial Arena and Tracey Park.

“It's not to say parks are going to be wholesale removed from the inventory. We know how important open spaces are to the communities they serve,” Franklin said.

It's not impossible that some small portions of parkland that could be serviced might be considered, he added, but public consultation would be part of the process before such a move is considered.

“We are looking for open green spaces – not where playgrounds sit, not where ball diamonds sit.”

Franklin's report was accepted by council, with the motion including direction to staff to develop and implement a comprehensive community consultation and engagement plan with respect to the short-list inventory for the purpose of potentially disposing of portions of these lands or possibly using them to facilitate the creation of affordable housing.