‘Do not undermine your advisors’: Mayor hopes month-long Lions Bay trail closure serves as valuable lesson

Councilors for the Village of Lions Bay voted to reopen the community’s popular trailheads at a special council meeting Thursday evening, after a month-long closure.

Mayor Ken Berry says he’s hopeful the closure was a lesson for all about when council should heed the advice of local experts and advisors.

“I’m hopeful this is a lesson for everyone, council included, that we must listen to the experts and refer to the scientific and best practices,” Berry said. “This isn’t something that council should be overruling the advisors on.”

On Aug. 22, council voted to close the trailheads, including parking, due to wildfire risk — despite expert advisors stating that a closure was unnecessary. Trails affected by the closure included Tunnel Bluffs, the Lions, Mt. Harvey, and Unnecessary Mountain.

Berry attended the council meeting where the decision was made to close the trailheads, via teleconference. He was overseas at the time.

“The advice of the experts was disregarded and counsel took it upon themselves to close the trail,” Berry said about the initial decision.

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He says in the future, he’d like to see council listen to the advice of the local fire chief and scientific experts, instead of taking matters into their own hands.

“I am an advocate that you do not undermine your advisors and experts,” Berry said.

The closure has been confusing for everyone, Berry says. He says even his two teenage kids turned around while out on a dog walk after seeing the signage saying a trailhead was closed, despite the actual trail remaining open to anyone travelling by foot or bus.

The trails themselves are on Crown land and remained open to hikers during the closure. It was only the trailheads, which are within village boundaries, that were shuttered.

Three of the five councilors, Berry included, voted in favour of re-opening the trails at Thursday’s meeting. One councillor abstained and another voted against it.

Correction: A previous version of this article stated Mayor Ken Berry was not consulted on the original decision to close the trailheads on Aug. 22. The article has since been updated to reflect the fact that he was virtually present for this decision.