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The City of Waterloo intends to buy a large parcel of land that includes the Laurel Creek Nature Centre in order to ensure educational programming at the centre can continue.
The city is working on an agreement with the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA), which currently owns the land. The agreement would allow the GRCA to continue using the centre to deliver their environmental education program for the next five years.
The city will also be maintaining the property as public parkland as well as exploring opportunities for a portion of the property to be developed as an Indigenous gathering space.
“We are really pleased with the direction of public ownership of these lands and public protection is really critically important,” Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe said during a council meeting on Monday.
Royce Bodaly, who is the councillor for Ward 2 in which the parkland sits, told council “true stewardship of environmental lands necessitates public ownership.”
“I am really pleased to see this direction that ensures that these really important, environmentally sensitive lands are kept in public hands for as long as we can,” Bodaly said.
Changes to Conservation Authorities Act
The move comes after changes to the Conservation Authorities Act meant educational programming would be required to operate without any municipal funding unless a formal agreement was in place.
The GRCA manages water and natural resources across the Grand River watershed, which includes the cities of Guelph, Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Brantford.
The authority runs education programs aimed at various age groups at five nature centres and as many as 15,000 students pass through Laurel Creek Nature Centre each year.
In October 2023, the GRCA shared results from a review of their educational programming, which recommended relocating programming from those standalone nature centres, like Laurel Creek’s, to fee-for-use conservation areas for “greater operational efficiency,” a joint release from the City of Waterloo and the GRCA said.
One month later, the GRCA board directed staff to continue discussions with municipalities and school boards for funding at three properties including Laurel Creek Nature Centre.
Ultimately, those discussions led to the agreement between Waterloo and GRCA.
GRCA is ‘grateful’ to Waterloo
GRCA chair John Challinor II said the authority is “grateful” to the city.
“The transfer and proposed operational agreement will support a smooth transition of the program over the next five years, while creating opportunities for continued collaboration,” he said.
The cost to the city, based on the appraised value of the land, is estimated at $1.5 million. Waterloo’s environmentally sensitive lands reserve fund will provide $1 million, and $500,000 will come from the parkland dedication reserve fund.
The deal is expected to be finalized in late summer or early fall of this year.