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Blocking the path to higher learning

Blocking the path to higher learning | iNFOnews.ca
Legal dispute has blocked access to popular back trail into UBCO. Photographer: John McDonald

KELOWNA – The ongoing dispute between UBC Okanagan and the residents of Curtis Road which runs right behind the school has ended up again in the courts, blocking access to the popular back trail.

Michael Shakespeare, the school’s vice-president of operations, said in a prepared statement that the easement granted to UBCO has not been cancelled but that restrictions on its use ordered by the courts in 2012 are still in force.

That means only students and employees in two on-campus buildings, the Reichwald Health Sciences Centre and the Creative and Critical Studies building, are allowed to use the easement and only on days they are either attending classes or working.

Shakespeare said the case has been deferred until Monday, Feb. 23 pending a review of a plan to improve compliance with the easement restrictions.

The long-running dispute between local residents and UBCO stems from before it took over the campus from the former Okanagan University College. The dispute was brought into the open when organizers of a school-run charity race tried to use Curtis Road for a running race, angering local residents who disputed the school’s claim to access.

To contact a reporter for this story, email jmcdonald@infonews.ca, call 250-575-0521. To contact the managing editor, email Marshall Jones at mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

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One response

  1. Bill Holden

    …..sounds like a bunch of selfish,grouchy, grumpy. greedy people live on Curtis Road…not many safe ways for students to get to UBCO…..but who cares about the students safety or making life a little easier for them….these Curtis Road people have paid a lot for their privacy….still wondering who had the right to begin selling property in the first place….just one of those things in a civilized world…..

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John McDonald

By John McDonald

John began life as a journalist through the Other Press, the independent student newspaper for Douglas College in New Westminster. The fluid nature of student journalism meant he was soon running the place, learning on the fly how to publish a newspaper.

It wasn’t until he moved to Kelowna he broke into the mainstream media, working for Okanagan Sunday, then the Kelowna Daily Courier and Okanagan Saturday doing news graphics and page layout. He carried on with the Kelowna Capital News, covering health and education while also working on special projects, including the design and launch of a mass market daily newspaper. After 12 years there, John rejoined the Kelowna Daily Courier as editor of the Westside Weekly, directing news coverage as the Westside became West Kelowna.

But digital media beckoned and John joined Kelowna.com as assistant editor and reporter, riding the start-up as it at first soared then went down in flames. Now John is turning dirt as city hall reporter for iNFOnews.ca where he brings his long experience to bear on the civic issues of the day.

If you have a story you think people should know about, email John at jmcdonald@infonews.ca

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