Daily needle sweeps in Nanaimo parks ending soon, as staff pursue new solutions
NANAIMO — The City of Nanaimo needs a new strategy to clean up needles from parks, as a concerned parent’s frustration grows over the glacial pace of bureaucracy.
The City’s manager of parks operations Al Britton confirmed daily needle sweeps at problem parks, currently being performed by parks staff, will soon end. He said his department can handle the clean up workload right now but by the end of the month at the latest they’ll need to resume spring and summer duties, like grass cutting and tending to flower beds.
Currently staff sweep 10 “hot spot” parks each morning, with an additional pass of Comox Park added in the evening due to it being used as the playground for nearby Ecole Pauline Haarer.
The needle sweeps are performed despite no additional funding or manpower provided to the parks department.