An unruly crowd formed in council chambers to protest a recent decison made by council to allow waterslides in Skaha Lake Park., A huge crowd gathered in front of city hall this afternoon, July 20, to make their feelings known about waterfront revitalization plans for Skaha Lake in Penticton. Photographer: Steve Arstad

Anti-waterpark group disrupts Penticton council meeting

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PENTICTON – Hundreds of people showed up at City Hall to let council know their feelings about waterfront revitalization at the city’s south end.

Enduring 35 Celsius heat, a huge crowd formed in front of Penticton City Hall well before the designated time of 5 p.m. today, July 20. Police cordoned off the 100-block of Main Street as the hundreds in attendance chanted and hoisted placards announcing their position on the issue of the city entering a partnership agreement with Trio Marine Group to revitalize Skaha Lake Marina and surrounding lands with an expanded marina, restaurant and waterslide park.

'No corporate waterpark on public land,' 'Let kids play, keep hands off the waterpark,' 'Save Skaha Park,' and 'Need wider counsel, council,' were but a few of dozens of slogans waved on large signs.

Noise from the crowd made those speaking difficult to hear, but calls of 'Waterparks' and 'We want a referendum' could be heard intermittently.

“If (Trio ) want to have a business, they should use private land. I should have objected in the first place. I want to keep that land public,” protester Gelly Neilson says, adding he sees hundreds of kids in Skaha Lake Park everyday, so the idea the park is underutilized is false.

Many of those in the street moved upstairs to council chambers in anticipation of discussing the matter further, expressing their displeasure when the mayor said the issue would not be discussed. Many in the gallery demanded to be heard, disrupting the council meeting to the point the mayor recessed the meeting. The meeting reconvened after several protesters left and the police were able to placate the people remaining in the gallery.

An unruly crowd formed in council chambers to protest a recent decison made by council to allow waterslides in Skaha Lake Park. Photographer: Steve Arstad

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

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11 responses

  1. Shali Zuck Murphy

    I was in the chambers..Disruptive? What a joke. Meeting hadn’t even started. People just wanted to know if the mayor could put this on the agenda for a council meeting. and he would not answer. Ignored the people. And walked out of the meeting. I guess singing This land is our land! if singing an Anne Murray song is bullying! Wow! Bunch of sucks!

  2. Jacqueline Edwards

    Seriously?Your argument is extremely weak.No Waterpark = Vandalism.and,Waterpark = Respectful Teens.Feel Free and have Fun?We have 2 lakes, numerous beaches, channel, bmx track, skateboard park, parks, clubs, art, music, biking, hiking, etc….use your imagination.A waterpark makes no respecter of teens.Parents raise their children to be respectful.

  3. Deborah Goodman Lisitza

    You have got to be kidding, have any of you naysayers even looked at the proposal? Great idea people, let’s keep Penticton a grey haired, do nothing city ( by the way I have grey hair) and have no progress at all in keeping our youth in the city. Apparently you like taxes climbing and the city struggling to keep up with aging infrastructure, give your heads a shake and join the real world. Educate yourself a little bit better, Penticton has already lost enough….

  4. Ralf Aggarwal

    could the reporter please present both sides of the protest? Why weren’t the blue balloon ‘pro’ supporters comments and signs reflected in this story? Let’s try to keep journalism fair and unbiased, okay? You can still sell newspapers and at the same time keep the citizens educated on both sides of the issue. Very frustrating to see this kind of reporting!

  5. Donna McDougall

    Leave the water park alone!The kids that come everyday have an absolute blast and get lots of excersizedoing it. When is the city council going to stop thinking about the almighty dollar?Why not get these developers to design and build low rental housing for the working poor or those in need in our city,

  6. Mectron Noodle

    Look like we have a PROVEN CRIMINAL at the head of Canada and Penticton!

  7. Dylan Farinha

    city without trees eh. also tress don’t reduce crime. that doesn’t even make sense.

  8. Karel Doruyter

    Public land is land for the public, not private enterprise. It really is not difficult to understand that. Water slide/water park is not a bad idea, but NOT on public land.

  9. Sue McFetridge

    Thank you to all the people that turned out!Let’s keep,our parks!

  10. Dustin Wolchina

    Why not build this water park at three mile since no one else is using the space since the naturists were bullies away…

  11. Ingrid Perkins

    Save our parkwater slide some where else……

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Steve Arstad

I have been looking for news in the South Okanagan - SImilkameen for 20 years, having turned a part time lifelong interest into a full time profession. After five years publishing a local newsletter, several years working as a correspondent / stringer for several local newspapers and seven years as editor of a Similkameen weekly newspaper, I joined iNFOnews.ca in 2014. My goal in the news industry has always been to deliver accurate and interesting articles about local people and places. My interest in the profession is life long - from my earliest memories of grade school, I have enjoyed writing.
As an airborne geophysical surveyor I travelled extensively around the globe, conducting helicopter borne mineral surveys.
I also spent several years at an Okanagan Falls based lumber mill, producing glued-wood laminated products.
As a member of the Kaleden community, I have been involved in the Kaleden Volunteer Fire Department for 22 years, and also serve as a trustee on the Kaleden Irrigation District board.
I am currently married to my wife Judy, of 26 years. We are empty-nesters who enjoy living in Kaleden with our Welsh Terrier, Angus, and cat, Tibbs.
Our two daughters, Meagan and Hayley, reside in Richmond and Victoria, respectively.

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