Tobogganing could soon be banned from all but two parks in Oshawa, a move one city councilor says would be an “overreaction” to a fatal accident on a hill in the nation’s capital two years ago.
On Monday, Oshawa’s community and operations services committee voted 4-2 to support a staff recommendation to ban tobogganing on all city property except for “designated toboggan hills” at Knights of Columbus Park and Grandview Village Park.
Staff say the measure is in response to a “risk assessment of sanctioned and unsanctioned toboggan hills” carried out by Durham Councils’ insurance provider following an incident in another community.
But Ward 5 Count. Brian Nicholson told CP24.com that if the city passes the measure, which still needs to be approved by the full council, it might as well change its slogan to “Oshawa: No Fun Allowed.”
“I’ve probably had about 15 to 20 emails since yesterday, it’s all over Facebook and other social media and the general reaction from the community is that it’s the stupidest idea they’ve ever heard,” he said. “I mean you can’t limit all liability. People swim in pools, sometimes some people get into trouble. But we don’t close pools, we don’t close beaches.
Staff said the risk assessment identified a number of steps that should be taken to reduce the city’s exposure to liability in areas where sledding is not prohibited, including a winter season inspection program, a warning system that to communicate when conditions are suitable for sledding and “site-specific measures” such as using pads or removing obstacles and hazards.
They said that to implement these measures on all 10 of the hills studied, “additional temporary staff and resources would be required,” potentially costing the city at least $30,000 more annually.
But by limiting tobogganing to “two of the most popular hills,” staff say there will be no need for additional resources and therefore no budget impact.
Speaking to CP24.com, Nicholson said he believes the seven other municipalities that are members of the Durham Municipal Insurance Pool have received similar “strongly worded” letters asking them to ban tobogganing on hills where minimums have not been taken steps to improve safety after 11-year-old girl dies on Ottawa hill in 2021
He said that while he could appreciate that the insurer was doing its job by “identifying the risk”, common sense should prevail.
“What are we going to do? Give little Johnny or Susie a ticket? For a roller coaster? This is one of those cases where the reaction to the issue has gotten out of hand and I think we’re seeing a course correction now where people are saying wait a minute here ” said Nicholson. “There are maintenance and reasonable steps you can take that will still allow us to reduce the risk, but also allow kids to get off and ride the toboggan.”
Oshawa’s parks bylaw currently states that sledding is “permitted unless otherwise signed prohibiting the activity.”
The proposal to ban sledding off two hills will be voted on during a city council meeting scheduled for Jan. 30.
Nicholson said that while he would be “stunned” if a majority of the city council ultimately voted to ban the slide in Oshawa, he still urged residents who are concerned about the proposal to contact their representatives.
“If the public’s voice is heard, I think we can win this pretty easily,” he said.
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