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Aurora thanks David Tomlinson for Wildlife Park vision

November 6, 2020   ·   0 Comments

Landscape architect David Tomlinson has been praised for his dedication to preserving and restoring local wildlife.

It is a cause he has tirelessly championed since moving to Aurora more than 40 years ago and this dedication shows no signs of slowing as he continues work on the Nature Reserve that now bears his name.

Persistence might be something that has been a key to Mr. Tomlinson’s success over the years, and it is a trait exhibited by Councillor John Gallo who first set the wheels in motion on dedicating the David Tomlinson Nature Reserve in honour of the visionary instrumental in making it happen.

Councillor Gallo’s motion to dedicate the Wildlife Park in Mr. Tomlinson’s name was first put forward to Council more than a year ago. After it won the approval of Council in a Closed Session meeting this past August, he was pleased to be on hand October 23 to see his motion bear fruit.

“There are many things that stood out to me with David,” Councillor Gallo told a limited group of well-wishers gathered for the dedication of the David Tomlinson Nature Reserve, including the full Council complement. “First is his humility. When I first approached [David] to do this, he told me he didn’t want to and I convinced him otherwise. Because of his humility, he is not the person to [want to] have his name on a plaque and I think, obviously, he didn’t do this just for that reason.”

Another thing that stood out to the Councillor was Mr. Tomlinson’s knowing when and where to be “stubborn.”

“In terms of the environment, there is one thing he told me: there’s invasive species all over the place and you can’t be stubborn in dealing with them,” Councillor Gallo recalled. “Sometimes you have to use a bit of Round Up to take care of them, even though it might not be the best for the environment and it is that different perspective that I really admire: you’re not so narrow-minded to think that there is [one] particular way to solve a problem and I really respect that.”

Ahead of the dedication, Mr. Tomlinson told The Auroran he appreciated the fact Council decided to name the green space in his honour, but he was a reluctant honouree. When the time came to lift the veil on the park signage, he reiterated this position.

“I don’t really think it is ‘my’ nature reserve – it has been a massive effort by a lot of people from the first time I made this proposal in 1998,” he said, thanking past Councils and Town Staff, including Al Downey, Aurora’s Director of Operations, and former Parks Manager Jim Tree and the entire Parks Department, for working together to help him realize his vision for the area. “I would also like to thank the people at Nature Aurora who supported me through all the survey work, all through the summer, plotting birds, plotting snakes, plotting wildlife. We have got an absolute amazing database so we can measure not only the effect of development on the wildlife and also the effect that all our landscape and habitat improvements will have, whether it has really worked and whether some things should be dropped or carried on. It has been a really interesting trip with a lot of effort and a lot of people. I am really thankful to you all for naming it after me.”

Added Mayor Mrakas in his dedication: “Thank you, David, for your significant contributions to Aurora. We appreciate your hard work, dedication and passion for the environment. You have helped Aurora’s wildlife park project become a reality.”

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter



         

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