Ah, it’s Spring in Belgravia! Oh yeah, also the End of the World…
Activity at the End of the World (EOTW) site has been picking up as the weather warms. If you’re new to this, the site is a lookout over the river valley, located on the edge of Belgravia on posted city parkland. Access is prohibited (for safety and environmental reasons, among others), but this doesn’t deter a caravan of cars and people from using the site resulting in litter on the roadway and onsite, unwelcome traffic and occasionally other illicit behaviour (aside from the fact of trespassing).
This site is on Edmonton Police Service’s “radar” and an “area of concern”, so they do ask officers to occasionally drive by, or park in the area (if they have the opportunity), but they do rely on us as residents to notify them of activity. And there’s always activity when the weather is nice.
Without going into great detail, representatives from Belgravia have met with city councillors, Edmonton Police Service and City Administration (e.g. Parks) about the site. In meeting, we understand that there is a limit to resources for regular and constant enforcement. There is some initial discussion about remediating the site as a publicly accessible viewpoint, but this an idea in its earliest stages and may not be feasible.
For the time being, if you are concerned and notice activity at the site, here’s a suggested course of action:
1. Call 780 423-4567, the non-emergency complaint line of Edmonton Police Service (unless it really is an emergency where there’s urgency and/or endangerment– then dial 911).
2. Be patient and prepared to provide a general address for the site ( e.g. just north of 74th Avenue & Saskatchewan Drive) as you may reach a dispatcher who is not in or familiar with this part of the city. With the general address, they can bring it up on their system.
3. You may want to indicate the number of vehicles or approximate number of people, and of course, unwelcome behaviour, along with the fact of people in a prohibited area that is posted.
As well, please let belgraviawatch@gmail.com know about this so we can continue to monitor the situation and work at the administrative and political levels on this.
Thank you.