Help Preserve Golden Forest Pond as a Clean, Safe, and Enjoyable Park

There are a number of parks in Vaughan that are littered with garbage and dog excrement. Golden Forest Pond is just one of them that I believe needs immediate action due to the impact the litter has on the environment where ducks and other wildlife live.

Golden Forest Pond is located in Maple, just west of Peter Rupert Avenue and north of Rutherford Road. For years, this pond has been littered with trash such as plastic bottles, coffee cups, bags, paper, beer cans, wine bottles, boxes, old toys, food wrappers, shopping carts and more! Not only is this garbage unattractive to look at, even worse, it is having a severely negative impact on the environment where the ducks and other wildlife live.

The garbage that is scattered near the pond is now getting into the water where wildlife swim, which could cause them to become trapped and die. It is upsetting that in this neighbourhood such a beautiful pond is being littered with trash—this is unacceptable. On October 16th 2015, I contacted the City of Vaughan, and a work order was created which addressed the problem of littering and people not picking up after their pets. I also sent them pictures as evidence. I emailed a list of the actions that they should take immediately before the problem worsens.

The list included:
1. The garbage needs to be picked up and properly disposed of soon.
2. There should be garbage bins placed along the pathway.
3. There should be “No Dumping” or “No Littering” signs near the pond.

I never received a response from the City. On Monday May 2nd and Wednesday May 4th 2016, I went to Golden Forest Pond with a garbage bin, gloves, and signs, and started cleaning the park myself. During the seven months since I made the work order no changes were implemented. The littering problem actually got worse…much worse. On May 2nd I took pictures, and I removed a shopping cart that had been dumped right beside the pond. On May 4th I spent 5 hours cleaning, and I ended up clearing out one full trash bag of dog excrement, and two full trash bags of recyclable materials. However, I was not able to finish; I only cleared about 20% of the garbage in the pond, and there’s still lots more that needs to be done.

On May 5th 2016, I called the City for an update on the work order. They told me that on November 17th 2015 City employees went out to inspect the site. They concluded that: “No dumping was found. Regular debris and garbage picked up. No illegal dumping signs required.” They closed the case. I refuse to accept this response from the City. Much more needs to be done.

The next step will be to escalate the issue by contacting the Councilor for Ward 4, as well as the Mayor of Vaughan. In order to do that I need the public’s help. Please support this cause by signing the petition. Together we can make change happen!