City of Barrie taking action to enhance safety at park on Ross Street

The City of Barrie is taking steps to increase safety measures at a public park following recent incidents.

According to the City, an encampment that was set up at Queen's Park on Ross Street over the weekend left the public space a mess.

"It is quite an issue, and we've had to close the washrooms here because of it. If parks are no longer safe for the families and the kids to play in then we have a major issue that we need to take on," Mayor Alex Nuttall said.

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The park washrooms were found with garbage, including several discarded needles.Trash and discarded needles are left on the floor of a public washroom at Queen's Park on Ross Street in Barrie, Ont. (Courtesy: City of Barrie)The City says the safety concerns prompted the boys and girls baseball associations to avoid using Queen's Park for the time being and forced the closure of the public washrooms.Garbage and discarded needles are strewn on the floor of a public washroom at Queen's Park on Ross Street in Barrie, Ont. (Courtesy: City of Barrie) To help cut down on crime, city crews will be limbing trees as part of an effort known as community safety by design.

"So what you're doing is improving sight lines so if you have low hanging shrubs, the ability to get rid of those low hanging shrubs allows passersby to see through. Generally, people don't like to commit criminal acts or social disorder acts in front of other people, and so the idea is there's a natural dissuasion from doing that," noted Police Chief Rich Johnston.

The move comes the same week a bylaw is set to take effect pending council approval making it illegal to hand out food or drinks to homeless people in city parks.

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Meanwhile, advocates say steps taken by the city, like the new bylaw, don't help to address the homelessness crisis plaguing the area.

"It was done without consultation of first and foremost people that are experiencing homelessness and are going to be directly impacted as well as community organization and partners who are currently working and striving, dedicating a lot of their lives towards doing this work," said Sarah Tilley, Gilbert Centre harm reduction program manager.

The City said crews would clean the park and washrooms at the Ross Street park.