A community advocacy group is pushing back against the City of St. John’s on the proposed use of green space for an affordable housing build.

Last month, the city voted to move ahead with consultations to use part of the green space used for the Eric Street Community Garden for the construction of houses by Habitat for Humanity.

Tina Steele-Nash is the chair of the West End Community Alliance. Speaking on VOCM Open Line with Paddy Daly, she questioned why the city is choosing to build on greenspace when there are other options available, such as the site of the former Grace Hospital.

She says at a time when climate change awareness is so prevalent, we need to preserve our green spaces.

Steele-Nash accuses the city of trying to rush the project. She says an example of this is the city holding two information sessions on the project in the same night. She points to the land assessment being done by Habitat for Humanity and not an outside consultant as an issue as well.

Meanwhile, Ward Four councillor Hope Jamieson responded to the group’s concerns. She says the purpose of the project is to use land that the city already has access to.

Jamieson says everything is still in the preliminary stages at this point, and that there is still lots of time for the public to have their say.

She says one thing people have told her is they would like to keep the trees at the back of the lot. She also notes that the project has not yet been approved and there are still a lot of hurdles to go through first.