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Posted: Aug. 7, 2024 7:25AMBrad Watson is the president of the Central Saanich Pickleball Association, and he says Freedom of Information requests obtained from the District of North Saanich point to misinformation being spread by mayor and council.
“The reasons they said the courts were closing were because of excessive noise. None of the FOIs showed that they did sound measurements,” he says. “The second thing thing was that the mayor said there was a lot of bullying and harassment going on from the pickleball community towards mayor, council, staff and neighbours. Nothing came back on that.”
Watson says the third main item cited in the closure of the courts was that sound mitigation does not work and is too expensive.Watson was one of many pickleball players who banded together in May at Oak Bay’s Carnarvon Park to conduct sound tests involving. Watson says the tests proved that decibel levels dropped to within the same spectrum as tennis, and that panels could be installed at Wain Road Park at a cost to the district of less than $30,000.
Watson is frustrated at the lack of response from mayor Peter Jones, who back in May told CHEK News that the closure was not a snap decision. “We cannot get the mayor or council to respond to any emails, requests from residents for meetings, anything,” says Watson.In a statement to a CHEK News request for comment, the District of North Saanich says, “As this matter is subject to litigation, the District will not be commenting at this time.”Sign up for the CHEK Now daily email newsletter to get breaking news and the day's top stories sent to your email.
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