London disc golfers aren’t happy that a popular park just north of the city limits will soon begin to charge parking fees, with an exemption that will only be available to Middlesex Centre residents.
Douglas B. Weldon Park is in Arva off Richmond Street and a stone’s throw from the municipal boundary with London.
More than 120 acres (48 hectares) in size, the park has an off-leash dog run, four playing fields, playground equipment and a nine-hole disc golf course.
What the park will also have, starting May 21, is a parking fee of $3 an hour or $20 a day during the week, $5 an hour with a $30 daily maximum on weekends. Park visitors will pay for parking using the Honk mobile app, but only visitors from outside the municipality will have to pay.
Residents of Middlesex Centre can appy for a digital pass using the municipality’s tax rolls. Up to two households can get digital parking passes, which will grant unlimited free parking through the app.
The municipality’s move to create two tiers of park access based on where visitors reside doesn’t sit well with Sean Miller, president of the London Disc Golf Association.
“I’m disappointed,” he said. “This goes both ways. There are London services being paid for by London taxpayers that support other surrounding communities and we don’t see them paying separate fees.”
Miller said members of the London disc golf group, which numbers about 120 paid members but a few thousand participants, consulted with Middlesex Centre when the disc golf course was installed.
Many municipalities have moved to add disc golf courses to parks and green spaces in recent years. The sport’s popularly grew during the COVID-19 pandemic. Miller said much of the appeal is due to the fact the sport doesn’t require a membership fee or expensive equipment to participate.
London has disc golf courses in city parks at Basil Grover Park on Wharncliffe Road South at Commissioners Road East. Another option is the River’s Edge course at St. Julien Park south of Hamilton Road and just west of Highbury. Both have free parking.
Miller said the Weldon Park course helped fill a need for a course at the north end of London, even though it’s technically located outside London city limits.
“This is going to discourage people from using that park,” he said of the parking fees. “It’s a sport with a low-barrier to entry.”
So why are parking fees coming to Weldon Park?
Scott Mairs, Middlesex Centre’s director of community services, said the park has become busier in recent years, which has also raised its operating expenses.
“This park is very much now a destination,” he said. “But what comes with that is a large cost to us.”
Mairs said the municipality had to add security gates, increased patrols by an outside security firm and more frequent garbage pickup to keep the park maintained. He said increased incidents of vandalism have also added to the annual bill.
“The cost to the Middlesex Centre taxpayer is quite significant. The intent of this is to regain some of those costs that will go back into maintaining the park as a whole.”
The parking fees were approved by Middlesex Centre council as part of a fees and charges bylaw passed in November. Parking fees were recommended in a services master plan approved two years ago.
Mairs said another issue is the park’s parking lot is used regularly by students at nearby Medway High School, though there are signs telling them not to park there. Mairs said the municipality has been working with the Thames Valley District School board to address spillover parking from the school.
Sports teams that pay to rent the playing fields can get parking passes, but anyone visiting to watch or play at the sports fields will have to pay to park.
Mairs said the municipality is working to create a yearly pass option for visitors from outside Middlesex Centre.
He said the municipality doesn’t have projections on how much income the new parking fees might generate without a full year of parking fees to serve as a benchmark.
