Stanley Britton

La Pêche seeks community input for turntable park

Local Journalism Initiative / The Low Down / July 23, 2025 / community consultation, Guillaume Lamoureux, La Pêche, Parc Roquebrune, Public consultation, Stanley Britton, Turntable Park, Wakefield, Wakefield Rail Heritage Advocacy Group

By Trevor Greenway

What should the municipality of La Pêche do with turntable park in Wakefield?

Expand the swimming area? Renovate the washrooms? Remove the historic turntable or renovate it to become part of the visitor experience?

“We want to do this right,” La Pêche Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux told the Low Down about the park that’s officially known as Parc Roquebrune. “It’s a super important park, so we want it to be welcoming, accessible and adapted to the needs of the community.”

Lamoureux and council have launched an online public consultation to solicit ideas from residents on what they would like to see at the park in the future. Some of those options include: picnic areas, a space for community events, a playground for kids, a tourism information kiosk and renovated washrooms. The online survey also asks residents if they would like to see increased or decreased parking at the park.

“We want to create a space that truly reflects the values and needs of our community,” said Lamoureux. “We invite everyone who uses the park or is interested in its future to share their ideas and vision.”

One thing is clear: La Pêche is not building a motorized boat launch as Chelsea Mayor Pierre Guénard suggested recently during a meeting on the closure of the Farm Point boat launch. However, the municipality is seeking the public’s input on what to do with the park, which already features a public beach and swimming area.

Readers may recall our story this past spring, in which Wakefield resident Stanley Britton called on La Pêche to not “pave paradise” to increase parking at turntable park. Britton’s plan called for a renovation of the turntable, a new playground and a community stage for art shows and concerts. Britton was part of Wakefield’s Rail Heritage Advocacy Group, which is pushing to save the heritage of the steam train that used to roll through the village twice a week between May and October.

When it comes to the train tracks, the options for the park’s redesign also leave La Pêche at a bit of a crossroads: Does the municipality rip up the train tracks throughout the village, remove the turntable altogether and install heritage plaques throughout the village to honour its history? Or, does the municipality incorporate the heritage tracks into a pathway design and renovate the turntable so it’s accessible to the public?

“It’s one of our most visited municipal parks,” added Lamoureux. “We know it’s important, both for community members and visitors.”

Residents can access the online consultation via the municipal website at: https://lapecheconsulte.ca, and attend a public participatory workshop on Aug. 14 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Wakefield community centre. A consultation kiosk will also be installed at turntable park on Aug. 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., where residents can take the survey and add their comments.

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Don’t ‘pave paradise’ for Wakefield parking lot

Local Journalism Initiative / The Low Down / May 22, 2025 / La Pêche, Rail Heritage Advocacy Group, Roquebrune Park, Stanley Britton, Trevor Greenway, Turntable Park, Wakefield

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

Stanley Britton is hoping that La Pêche doesn’t “pave paradise” to put up a parking lot.

The municipality has plans to expand the parking at the popular Gatineau River beach near the Wakefield General Store, but Wakefield resident Britton, a member of Wakefield’s Rail Heritage Advocacy Group, has a much more ambitious plan to revitalize the rail network throughout the village while protecting its rich history by revamping the old train turntable.

“When we’re talking about rail heritage and turntable park, we’re not just talking about the park,” Britton told the Low Down during a sit-down interview at Cafe Earle in late February. “We’re talking about the entire riverfront.”

Britton’s plan, which should really be called “Stan’s Plan,” features an expanded riverside boardwalk stretching the entire Wakefield village, an artists stage at Roquebrune Park – known locally as Turntable Park – and a new steam train replica, serving as a playground for local kids. His vision also calls for a replica of the old Rockhurst Junction, which would serve as a waiting shelter for trail users.

The municipality has been considering what to do with the park ever since the Wakefield Steam Train stopped chugging through the village in 2011.

A major storm washed away part of the rail bed in Chelsea, and the multi-million dollar fix was too much to absorb. The rail bed became overgrown with weeds, the rail cars were sold off in pieces and the locomotive was sold to the Dalton Ecological Park in Gatineau.

Chelsea ripped up the rails on its portion of the rail line and built the Voie Verte for pedestrians and cyclists. Britton said he’s hoping La Pêche doesn’t make the same mistake.

“There’s a whole argument with this push to connect the trail to Chelsea, flatten it and pave it,” said Britton, referring to the Wakefield Rails to Trails group, which, in the past has argued in favour of ripping up the rails and connecting Wakefield to the Voie Verte in Chelsea. “But you’re paving over our history, really.” In Stan’s plan, paving stones would be installed between the rails, like it is in Wakefield’s centre-village.

La Pêche has since solicited proposals from consultants to revitalize the park, but in those plans, much of the history of Wakefield’s waterfront would disappear.

“The only thing remaining would have been the water tower, and much of the green space between the turntable and the Wakefield General Store, which already accommodates a lot of parking, would essentially be all parking,” said Britton about the previous proposals submitted to the municipality.

Britton said it would be a shame if the train turntable was removed, as the rail heritage group believes it is one of the last remaining working turntables in the country. The former Canadian Northern Railway turntable in Dauphin, one of the last ones in Manitoba, will be dismantled this summer.

“The key to a turntable park – and indeed to all of the rail heritage – is the turntable, because it really is a major structure,” added Britton.

Britton has sourced out the cost for replacing the deck boards at turntable park as well as at the green bridge in Wakefield at $18,000. The replica steam train playground, however, will be closer to $300,000, but Britton said he’s confident in Wakefielders’ fundraising abilities.

La Pêche Mayor Guillaume Lamoureux confirmed that there is a plan to improve parking at the village beach near the general store, update the public washrooms located nearby and “improve access to the river,” but he added that the municipality’s public infrastructure, park and greenspaces department will be hosting public consultations this summer to get the public’s input on how to improve and develop turntable park. He said that parking would be expanded, but wouldn’t encroach on the beach area.

“I am really looking forward to sitting down with the community and seeing what people have in mind,” said Lamoureux. “The goal is to come up with a plan for investing in that park. Clearly, there are additional needs to completely redo the bathrooms, improve parking and improve access to the river.”

A date for the municipality’s public consultation has not been set.

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