Residents close to Central Park cricket pitch left meeting very unhappy

By Pepper Parr

April 25, 2026

BURLINGTON, ON

Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns knew it was going to be an uncomfortable meeting.

The city had decided to go forward with plans to move the Central Park cricket pitch a few metres farther from nearby housing, a move that local cricket organizations say will ruin the season.

Residents who lived adjacent to the cricket pitch in Central Park were very unhappy with the existence of the cricket pitch so close to their homes. It had been an irritant for years.

Burlington’s cricket season usually kicks off in May, and runs through to September.  The city would require the majority of that time for new sod to get established before use which meant cricket games would not take place until quite late in the season, giving the residents some respite.

The only thing the unhappy residents came away with was that there would be a public meeting to respond to all the information that had been gathered.

The closing comment from one of the close to 50 people at the meeting was “This one is on you Councillor”.  It was not the way a ward Councillor likes to see a meeting end.

Earlier in the week, the city had announced that the pitch would be re-oriented and some trees would be removed and that opening would be late August at the earliest, which would give the residents some respite this year.  Traditionally, the cricket season begins in May.

A remark made by Aaron Brouwers: Director of Engineering Services resulted in an immediate burst of laughter. 

The pitch currently sits between two ball diamonds in Central Park.

During the meeting different staff members spoke about the changes that were going to be made and what they thought would improve things. When Aaron Brouwers pointed to a spot on the presentation screen and made a comment the audience burst into laughter – they were not impressed with what they were being told.  It took Kearns a couple of minutes to restore some order.

Staff has had to deal with the increase in demand for cricket pitch time.  Cricket clubs get permits for the times they want to play.  They start at 8:30 in the morning and play through to about 10 pm in the evening. Weekdays and on weekends from May to September, which residents say is more than they should be expected to put up with.

Hands were up through most of the event: residents had questions. To her credit, Kearns did her best to tell the residents what she knew.

The take away for the residents was City staff will hold a public information meeting, while proceeding with a planned reconfiguration of the 11-year-old Central Park cricket pitch in an attempt to address safety concerns.

Hands were in the air for most of the event;  people had questions and comments they wanted to make. This was a very engaged audience that didn’t like what it was hearing and wanted the ward Councillor to be fully aware as to just how upset they were.

Kearns made it clear to the audience that there would be a cricket pitch at Central Park, which at this point is the only cricket pitch in the city.

The decision to proceed with the plans to reorient the pitch stems from an April 21 city council meeting where councillors passed an amended motion allowing the work to move ahead. Council voted 6-1 to remove a direction to “pause the planned renovations” from a motion originally introduced by Ward 2 Coun. Lisa Kearns, who was the sole opposing vote.

Kearns’ original motion had called on staff to “pause the planned renovations at the Central Park Cricket Pitch in order to undertake a public engagement process and explore options to address resident concerns.”

A date for the public meeting has yet to be scheduled.   At the meeting, staff are expected to share how neighbour input regarding stray balls influenced the adjustments, and collect feedback for potential changes to the plan.

There are plans for a second pitch to open at Sherwood Park in 2028.  The city is looking for a third location

The pitches are used every evening of each week and every weekend during the May to September season.

The $275,000 budget to reorient the cricket pitch  includes reconfiguring the pitch within the park, adding new signs, removing a parking area and seven trees and planting 31 new trees elsewhere.

Emilie Cote: Director of Recreation, Community and Culture.

Emilie Cote, the city’s director of recreation, community and culture, said staff held two on-site meetings at the cricket pitch last year with area residents and cricket user groups and developed a reconfiguration plan to address concerns.  Cote acknowledged staff did not get back to residents with details of the reconfiguration plan.

A letter the city sent to park neighbours notified them of upcoming construction in the park relocating the wicket to a new position within the pitch, but did not include details of the work.  Neighbours later acquired more information, including a city map detailing the planned work that was posted on Facebook.

There are two cricket clubs in Burlington: Burlington Cricket and Cricket Burlington.

They acknowledge that homes have been hit by the ball that is used in the game.  There were no representatives from the cricket clubs at the meeting.

Residents were paying close attention to what was being said.

People are worried about being hit when they are out walking their dogs and just getting some fresh air and sunshine.

The cricket pitch opened in 2015, prior to that, the game was played on a makeshift field

While the pitch isn’t perfect, the diameter, at 60 yards is 10 yards short of the 70-90 yards needed for a regulation game.  To play a regulation game, the pitch would overlap the current baseball diamonds at Central. Park.

The demographic makeup of the city has changed, with a significant increase in the Southeast Asian population.  Cricket is their game.  They don’t spend much time at baseball and hockey has never been their game.

It was a difficult meeting for Ward Councillor Lisa Kearns

During the evening, Councillor Kearns told the audience that there was a lot of new information coming forward and time was going to be needed to pull all the information together for a planned public meeting later this year.

There appears to be a disconnect between the city recreation staff and the ward Councillors office that needs fixing.  The residents have very legitimate complaints – the city doesn’t appear to have solutions to the problem – other than waiting for a second cricket pitch to open at Sherwood Park.   And then find a third location.

Central Park could then be used for teaching young people to play the game, which would mean fewer balls going long distances.