Blocking the path to higher learning

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.