The restoration of Bennett's Brook came up in connection with the redevelopment of the Grace Hospital site at the Doing Density Right session at Wesley United Church on Thursday. Currently, the brook flows out of Mundy Pond through the culvert shown and enters the Grace Hospital site somewhere near the former West Fire Station. The original streambed is obvious in the upper reaches of Victoria Park, but is buried under the softball field down the hill. Has there been any news about the restoration of Victoria Park since the
press conference in May? I was away this summer, so I missed any consultations that might have happened, but I'm pleased to know the mayor is supportive of restoring Bennett's Brook. Upgrading the ball field near Holy Cross Elementary and restoring the original grade in Victoria Park would please everyone involved, but I'm concerned that there doesn't seem to be any fundraising underway for Victoria Park like there was for Bannerman Park.
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Northeast Avalon ACAP, on Flickr
St. John's is generally bad at "green infrastructure", having missed opportunities to restore parts of Kelly's Brook or Leary's Brook during the storm sewer replacement on Hoyles Avenue and the drafting of the
Rennie's River Catchment Stormwater Management Plan. The plan seeks to mitigate the flood risk from planned development in the watershed with dikes and walls instead of considering a development strategy that limits the net increase in impervious area. The city's current strategy of limiting post-development peak runoff is not entirely effective, since it only shifts runoff from an individual site's peak, increasing flow through a watershed at other times. CBCL's recommendation to build dikes along Rennie's River to avoid flooding of the Fieldian Grounds and backyards along Empire Avenue was particularly shocking, given that it would require cutting down trees, thereby increasing runoff in the lower reaches of the river near Dominion, and would protect very few buildings. The problems with the city's flood management philosophy
have been discussed before, but I haven't heard of any potential changes, and that suggests that the restoration of culverted streams in the city remains unlikely.