Brampton council voted to reopen the discussion over allowing street hockey, basketball and other sports on residential streets, at its most recent committee of council meeting.

Coun. Charmaine Williams (Wards 7 and 8) tabled a successful motion last Wednesday to have staff review the city’s bylaws, which currently prohibit obstructing roadways in any way, including with hockey and basketball nets.

“Street hockey is where NHL dreams are born. As a child, I remember growing up playing with my brother and my sister and other kids from my neighbourhood in the C section,” she told council. “Street hockey and other sports are a big part of our hockey culture, and we see fewer and fewer kids at play.”

Although street hockey has been banned under the city’s bylaws for years, the bylaw department said no kids have ever been ticketed for a violation and officers have discretion even in cases of resident complaints.

Other members of council and staff expressed the difficulty in balancing public safety and the possible financial liability to taxpayers with an age-old Canadian pastime most people see no issue with.

“The intent of a roadway is to actually move traffic and move people,” said Paul Morrison, director of bylaw enforcement. “As far as the safety issue, that is a big issue, which then also equates into liability.”

The city adopted the Vision Zero road safety framework in June, with the goal of reducing pedestrian, cycling and motor-vehicle deaths on the city’s road network. Council is also exploring the addition of automated speeding cameras in school zones, in hopes of reducing already-widespread safety concerns.

“Taxpayers pay for the streets. Taxpayers, in a lot of cases, are parents with kids who want to use the street, as well, said Coun. Jeff Bowman (Wards 3 and 4), adding that kids already use residential streets for all kinds of activities and he isn’t concerned about road hockey.

“We’ve got to balance this out,” he said. “Either way, this is one of (those) things (where) we can’t do the right thing, but we can certainly do the wrong thing.”

Staff will report back to council at a later date with its findings and recommendations.

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Graeme Frisque is a reporter for Mississauga News and Brampton Guardian. Reach him via email: gfrisque@metroland.com

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