A beloved hedge in Kanata North’s Beaverbrook neighborhood has become the center of a preservation debate. Residents are rallying for a heritage designation to protect the tall cedar hedges that shape the area’s character after a bylaw complaint demanded a drastic trim that could prove fatal to the greenery.
In September, a bylaw officer alerted resident Catherine Douglas that her hedge encroached on a nearby walking path. Despite recent trimming, Douglas was instructed to cut it back an additional meter—a measure she insists would kill the hedge. The complaint, spurred by a resident mistaking the hedge for city property, was only meant to initiate a light trim but unexpectedly escalated into a formal bylaw infraction.
Kanata North Councillor Cathy Curry described the hedges as integral to Beaverbrook’s charm, likening the streetscape to a “forest” experience. She hopes a heritage designation, currently under feasibility review, will provide permanent protection for Beaverbrook’s iconic natural landscape, an area designed in the 1960s by visionary developer Bill Teron.
Heritage status could not only safeguard these distinctive hedges but also ensure that future modifications align with the neighborhood’s historic vision of “nature predominance,” says Neil Thomson, president of the Kanata Beaverbrook Community Association. For many, this designation offers a chance to preserve a unique slice of Ottawa for future generations.
Source: Swifteradio.com
