Concerns over traffic and abuse of Lloyd Park have the MD of Foothills looking for ways to block access to non-community members. The MD is putting up a post-and-cable fence and a gate at the parking lot of Lloyd Park, in the Red Deer Lake area on 112 Street, though Div. 5 Councillor Alan Alger said it won’t be enough to deter people. “Fencing it off with a simple barbed-wire fence will keep vehicles out, and having an electronic gate for the actual people who buy the membership to the park, but there’s still going to be lots of people there who just go down and park in the cul-de-sac,” said Alger. Incoming “No Parking” and “No Trespassing” signs likely won’t do much either, if people know there won’t be any consequences to their actions, he said. “If there’s no policing down there then it’s not going to hold,” said Alger. “Everybody agrees we need constant policing down there.” He said the issue has been ongoing for a number of years, with people sneaking into the park and using it as a party place, complete with fires and drinking. The park was initially donated by the Lloyd family with the intent of turning it into a park for area residents to enjoy, he said. Access to the park comes from 112 Street, which turns into a road allowance past Red Deer Lake School. There was always a gate at the end of the road allowance, making it the entrance to the park, he said. People who paid their $20 annual membership to the Red Deer Lake Community Association were given the gate key and access to Lloyd Park. In order to get more security and deal with the issues happening in the park, the MD wanted to purchase the road allowance from the Province. “We were going to purchase the road allowance and then do a better gate system with an electronic gate and a better system for entry because it was a manual thing and people were leaving the gate open,” said Alger. But the landowner on the west side of the road allowance protested against the purchase, also stating the gate that was already in place was too small for him to get farm machinery through. The gate had to be removed, said Alger. The road allowance is now completely open with access to the park and the neighbour’s land, he said. “Our deal is we need to protect our park, because that’s MD property,” said Alger. He would like to see a gate put on the park land at the custodial house, and then run an internal road alongside the road allowance. However, a small waterway would require culverts and other measures, and deemed the solution unfeasible. Instead, the gate will be installed at the parking lot entrance. The road allowance will still be used, but will not be gated, and the MD will rely on its new signs to deter people from parking and accessing the park illegally. “We want to protect the park and right now it’s a free-for-all down there,” said Alger. “There’s no gates, no fencing, nothing. And our custodians, who have done a wonderful job over the years, are being taxed with trying to keep control of this park with no limitations.” The custodians used to go out and lock the gate at 10 p.m. but are now seeing vehicles driving into the park well after that time, and people going into the park land to party, he said. It’s not only the custodians who are feeling the frustrations of no security at Lloyd Park. Barry Klassen, Red Deer Lake Community Association president resigned, last week over the issues. “He’s done a wonderful job for 15 years, but just out of frustration – not just with the road, but the road’s been the final straw – he’s resigned,” said Alger.
