Landmark and Qualico have presented their first draft of their plan for future Precinct K development, or at least the parts of it that they own. As the Seine River figures very prominently in the City approved 2014 area structure plan, what are Qualico’s plans for the gentle river and its forest? They are Winnipeg’s leading developers after all. They are proud of their active transportation trails in Sage Creek, making a virtue of the necessity of the Manitoba Hydro right-of-way. We are prepared to be amazed, so what do we see?
Essentially, we see nothing. A green blob on a map. The riverside Active Transportation trail, the jewel in the crown, is missing. No dotted line. Nothing.
Qualico explains this with asides about challenging topography, the need for better surveys. They act as if the the Smith Farm coulee is a surprise development, a landslide, a sudden land collapse that suddenly interrupted the top of bank path’s right-of-way.
They do not mention the cost of getting from the north side of the coulee to the south side of the coulee. That would be unseemly.
As a long-time SOS supporter there is of course only one answer. Suspension bridge. That is the standard SOS response to such questions. Suspension bridge. More cowbell. No brainer.
Since there are exactly zero public expectations regarding Precinct K we can call Qualico’s green blob a huge disappointment, or we call it a visionary, environmentally sensitive, generous gesture. Qualico’s gift to the community and to future generations. Your pick.
A Google search reveals little new information about recent Precinct K developments. To date local media is not interested in the approval process.
OURS-Winnipeg has no webpage specifically mentioning Precinct K.
https://ours-winnipeg.weebly.com
The SOS Precinct K webpage is currently under construction.
https://www.saveourseine.com/projects
Save Our Seine did, however, post the latest Open House invitation.
https://www.saveourseine.com/post/public-open-house-proposed-development-near-the-seine-river
They have archived a 2013 document that they submitted during the Precinct K approval process.
As the City of Winnipeg did not fund PP&D’s planned 2014 Seine River Greenway overlay there are no current guidelines regarding future Seine River development.
The Seine River is No Man’s Land in so many ways. If the John Bruce Park paddling launch to the north is designed to facilitate river exploration of the Bois-des-esprits, local water conditions make the short paddle to the forest, don’t call it a park, almost impossible at times.
In the Creek Bend area, near the Perimeter Highway, the Provincial paddling site that appeared as if from nowhere, so valued that the Province actually forgot that it owned it (Fun Fact), is near Precinct K. Thirty feet away in fact. Will this orphaned gravel parking lot serve as the major access point for Precinct K paddlers, for the Vermette-Sumka forest to the south, for both or for neither? Why is that huge gravel parking lot there, and why won’t some level of government take some sort of responsibility for it?
Since the City and even Qualico don’t really seem to want to talk about the Seine River, I am starting to feel embarrassed. I didn’t get the memo. I am out of the loop. Polite people don’t talk about the Seine River. Let’s talk about the latest infrastructure planned for the Assiniboine Conservancy. That’s a much safer topic of conversation.