VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Plans for a bike lane through Hadden Park on Kits Point are being put on hold.

The BC Supreme Court has ruled construction has to be put off until a hearing can be held.

That ruling comes after a lot of angry words were exchanged at Vancouver Park Board meetings. There have also been protests by people in the neighbourhood who don’t like the proposal.

NPA Park Board Commissioner Melissa DeGenova can’t comment on the lawsuit but she has spoken with the public. “I’ve received hundreds of emails and phone calls from angry citizens who have said that they weren’t consulted. They’re upset about loss of greenspace.”

“I believe the community is very upset that there wasn’t meaningful, open, transparent public consultation,” she adds.

Megan Carvell Davis has been fighting the city and Park Board on this for 10 years. She says it is clear in the trust left behind by Harvey Hadden, the man who donated the land, that it be kept exactly how it is. “If there is a judge who says a 12-foot wide paved bike path through the middle of Hadden Park does not destroy its natural state and condition then I think it needs to be certified.”

We spoke with one woman who lives near the park and says her kids play there all the time. “Where they’re planning on putting it is silly; it’s ill-conceived, and… not thought through properly.”

There is a bike and walking path next to the park.

This all comes from a legal challenge over whether the path violates the deal under which the land was given to the City.