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Vancouver city councillors approved on Wednesday $1.5 million in city cash for detailed designs and a funding strategy for a $120-million, 10-year expansion of Playland.

Coun. Raymond Louie, who claimed to have attended the Pacific National Exhibition every year of his life, said a redesign could bring infrequent visitors back to the the park more regularly.

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“It is too great an opportunity to pass up,” he said.

Before the vote, Coun. Melissa De Genova said she would like to see alternative designs that could put green space into the area that the proposed expansion would go. “We can talk about it being greener or it being green.”

Some community groups in the area are opposed to the PNE converting more of Hastings Park into a paid admission area, something Coun. Adriane Carr noted before stating she was opposed to the plan.

But Coun. Geoff Meggs, who chaired the meeting, said the proposal to boost the size of Playland had already been approved by council as part of the Hastings Park master plan.

In the end, all councillors apart from Carr voted to fund the work.

mrobinson@postmedia.com