Public drinking could soon be allowed in some New Westminster parks

NEW WESTMINSTER (NEWS 1130) — You could soon be enjoying an alcoholic beverage at some parks in New Westminster.

City council has passed a motion, councillor Patrick Johnston brought forward, looking at allowing alcohol consumption in six parks in the city, including portions of Moody, Pier, Hume and Sapperton parks.

However, it still needs to pass a final council meeting, which Johnston thinks should happen in the next few weeks.

“You can’t quite pop your outdoor corks just yet,” he Johnston says. “We still have to do the work and get the paperwork and get everything ready for Provincial regulations that it’s allowed. But it will be coming in the next couple of weeks.”

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But Johnston says the program is especially needed now to allow “people to act like adults and obviously enjoy our public spaces.”

“2021 is going to be … a difficult year for a lot of people — especially who live in urban areas, because we’re not going to be having the festivals we would usually have, we’re not going to have the same kinds of events, we don’t really know where bars and restaurants are going to be. And people especially who live in urban areas — they rely on our outdoor public spaces for recreation for places to relax. A lot of people don’t have backyards,” he explains.

Johnston adds the program is on a trial basis and will be reviewed by the end of the year to make decisions about whether to change, adapt, grow or shrink for 2022.

“There are people in our community who don’t want to be around alcohol, and I think it’s important we still have access to park spaces for people who don’t want to be around alcohol. I think there’s a balance to be found here. So I think there’s work to do to figure out how this all works out for everyone.”

The motion suggests only allowing drinking in the parks from 11 a.m. to dusk.