VANCOUVER - The Vancouver park board has unanimously voted to endorse a plan that would see the board take over governance of Hastings Park from the Pacific National Exhibition board.

Vice chair of the park board Aaron Jasper said last night’s decision was to support one of the city’s three options for the future of Hastings Park, which houses Playland, the Hastings racetrack and Pacific Coliseum.

The other options include to turn control of the 160-acre property over to another city department such as engineering or keep the status quo, the PNE board.

Jasper, who raised the motion, said initially the idea was to ask the city to consider a set of criteria when deciding on the Hastings Park governance report. Those included: Increased public access to green space and recreational use; transparency and accountability in decision-making; compliance with city and park board initiatives such as the Greenest City Action Plan; and improved care of green space.

However, he said the board members believe the park board is the best option to ensure that criteria is met so they decided to come out and endorse governing the park.

He admitted there could be challenges with managing the PNE, but said the board has experience running a successful attraction in a park.

“Stanley Park has a thriving operation called the aquarium so why can’t we have a similar relationship with Hastings?” said Jasper.

“We believe there should be a fair in a park, not a park in a fair.”

The decision follows opposition from a citizen-led group called Friends of Hastings Park that strongly opposes the PNE board controlling operations on the grounds its interests are motivated by money. Spokeswoman Gale Tyler says the PNE is a legitimate tenant of the park but should not be in charge of publicly owned land. She says no amount of tinkering with a pro-business model “will bring about a governing body that serves the public interest.”

The group had been calling on the park board to take a strong stance with the city on governing the city’s second largest park.

The PNE board is chaired by councillor Raymond Louie and the vice-chair is park board general manager Malcolm Bromley. Louie said the PNE board is considered the most viable of three options, but that he’s willing to consider the others, depending on what the report says from the consulting firm KPMG. The report is expected at the end of June or early July.

“I think the PNE is a very unique organization that requires a specific skill set to run the playground, fair and Coliseum,” said Louie. “We want (Hastings Park) to be very green but still retain the commercial activity.”

The PNE Board has had interim control of Hastings Park for nine years, after the city took over from the province in 2004 when it decided the park was not a core asset.

Louie said there are plans for $130 million in upgrades over the next 20 years, including expanding Playland and adding a new community centre.