Council silent on Penticton neighbourhood’s deer control issue

PENTICTON – A delegation's plea to Penticton city council for assistance in getting a deer problem under control in a local neighbourhood was immediately referred to staff for follow up without a single comment from council.

There were no words of support, or otherwise, regarding the matter of a nuisance resident deer population causing problems for the residents of Figueira’s Mobile Home Park, located at 321 Yorkton Ave. in the city’s south end.

Residents are fed up with an onsite population of deer that have habituated themselves in the mobile home park, leaving droppings everywhere, destroying resident’s shrubs and plants and making yards unfit for use, in spite of efforts made to deer proof their properties.

A large group of residents filled the gallery in council chambers this afternoon. The group's spokesperson Robert Cartwright told council he thought they had made their case quite well with documents sent to councillors outlining the issue regarding a number of deer who had found their way into the confines of the mobile home park, in spite of being fenced in on three sides and bounded by oxbows of the Okanagan River on the fourth.

“There’s no simple answer to this,” he said, adding the high degree of frustration by the park’s residents was evident in the numbers that had shown up at council chambers.

Cartwright said the deer were “having quite an effect on our quality of life,” expressing disappointment that work to control deer populations in the province had produced so few results, at least partly because not all agencies were working to the same goal.

He said the city had a good opportunity to get involved in the park’s deer issues without it affecting anyone else beyond the borders of the modular home park, suggesting the city use the opportunity for test programs that could fine tune the deer control process for other parts of the city.

“We need to get the city and the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen on board. Nothing will happen until the city files application. We’re depending on you,” Cartwright said.

Council was noticeably quiet on the matter, leaving it to Mayor John Vassilaki to refer the issue to staff for follow up.

Cartwright pressed for a timeline from the city.

Chief administrative officer Peter Weeber said staff had worked extensively on the issue of deer control.

“It’s not a new issue, we understand your frustration,” Weeber said, promising to follow up with the group later this week.

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