The City of Brampton will continue to host events at Gage Park despite a staff recommendation to use other venues in an effort to protect the grass and trees.

Council received a staff report at a Nov. 13 meeting recommending transferring events currently hosted at Gage Park located downtown across from city hall to other venues like nearby Rosalea Park.

“Despite an aggressive program of turf maintenance and installation of an irrigation system, the combined negative effects of park events and stresses from the surrounding urban environment will likely accelerate the mortality rate and overall health of the trees and continue to deteriorate the turf quality,” read the report.

“Staff recommend that the City reduce the impact on the park due to repeated events by no longer offering Gage Park as a venue for events,” it added.

The park is home to the city's downtown band shell and hosts annual events such as the Rotary Rib ‘n’ Roll festival, Brampton Global Jazz and Blues Festival and others.

However, it became clear very quickly the recommendation wasn’t a popular one on council.

“The feedback I’m getting in the mayor’s office is ‘we want to use Gage Park, why is it so restrictive?’” Mayor Patrick Brown told council. “I think it would a significant mistake and would be a disconnect from the public wishes if we restricted the use or said you couldn’t have events at Gage Park.”

Instead, the mayor said he’d like to see increased maintenance in an effort to both sustain the park and its natural features while still allowing events to be hosted there.

“Where there’s a will there’s a way,” said Brown.

Coun. Martin Medeiros, who represents Ward 3, where Gage Park is located, was more concerned about equity surrounding who and what events get access to the park while echoing Brown’s observations that it is a popular venue many groups and organizations are interested in renting.