Hi Michael,
Further to the voicemail message that I left you on Wednesday, I've sketched out a map below to illustrate the overall problem and how it can be easily fixed.  

The photos further below it illustrate what I believe is needed in order to:
1) Provide adequate safety to pedestrians using the park
2) Resolve a long-standing illegal occupation of the park

1) The green line is the paved bike path that existed when we moved here 5 years ago.  
2) The yellow line is the (very approximate) location of the recently paved bike path.  
3) The blue rectangle is parkland that has been illegally annexed to the backyards of properties along Connaught Ave (893, 895, 897 and 903).  I've labeled that mowed rectangle as "Community Garden?" because (according to the City of Ottawa's Master Plan) the zoning there only allows the land to be used for "either park or community garden".  
4) The two red lines show the two pedestrian footpaths that existed prior to creation of the new (yellow) bike path.  Moving the bike path to its present location has eliminated the safe passage pedestrians used to have along the top of the grassy ridge which overlooks the blue rectangle.

I appreciate that the NCC tolerates a certain amount of encroachment however the encroachment here is particularly egregious.  For unknown reasons, these particular properties are not bounded by the chainlink fence normally used throughout the NCC region.  "Good fences make good neighbours" is a truism and the damage caused by leaving these properties unfenced is plain to see.  The owners there have banded together to pay a commercial lawn maintenance company to mow the whole area and by doing so they have prevented the park's natural vegetation to grow.  They have been illegally mowing that space for at least 20 years and the photos below illustrate the damage they've caused.

I took these photos on Wednesday when (to my great delight), I discovered that an NCC work crew had cleared the red section of path that extends from the south end of the mowed blue rectangle down toward the Henley Street park entrance.  The pathway there had been totally impassable due to some minor treefall and dense weed overgrowth... when you and I spoke some weeks ago, I has asked that the path be cleared and I assume that is why I was able to take these photos.

Anyone can see that this is the kind of natural footpath that is safe for pedestrian traffic and that the NCC can be proud of.  The photo immediately above shows the north end of the cleared path, that wide-open filed is where the footpath exits onto the south end of the illegally-mowed lawn shown inside the blue rectangle above.  Clearly, by squatting on that land and thereby annexing it to their own backyard, those owners have damaged the park.  They could be held legally liable for replanting "their extended backyard" so that legitimate park users can once again enjoy the type of natural footpath you see above.

The most outraging aspect of this encroachment are the actions that the encroaching property owners have taken to frighten pedestrians away from what they consider to be their private backyard.  These photos give you a taste for what pedestrians wishing to walk across "their" lawn are faced with.

I took the top photo from the new bike path that runs along the ridge overlooking the encroached property. Those two orange tent structures are golf practice nets that I've seen pitched there for months on end without ever being used.  Over the past five years I’ve seen many other instances where they leave an array of children’s toys over that lawn to  serve as as props that make pedestrians think they’re intruding into someone’s backyard. In winter they flood the area to create a skating rink, thereby asserting occupational ownership.

I’ve also seen them put out a sprinkler and turn it on so that it impedes people wishing to walk through ”their” property.  Also, if you look closely at the upper right hand corner of the blue rectangle, you will see how they strategically mow a path at the very back of the mowed area to guide pedestrians as far away as possible from what they consider to be their own private backyard.  I have other stories about those tactics but for brevity I will move on...  

ELIMINATING THE VERY REAL DANGER TO PEDESTRIANS
I have personally had many close encounters with cyclists while walking in the park, (with my dog and also with my grandchildren).  Most cyclists are polite and safety conscious enough to ring their bell or shout out that they are gliding up behind me; unfortunately, a distressing number of cyclists simply treat pedestrians as slalom poles.  I've had one occasion where I was hit from behind and the bike racer went flying into the weeds.  Our injuries were minor however I know of at least one serious collision at that location which resulted in broken bones and an ambulance ride.  Even if no physical injuries are ever sustained, pedestrians sharing that bikepath must continually look over their shoulder and jump out of the way.  That's not right and I'm calling on the NCC to eliminate the problem... there's an easy fix!

Until a few months ago pedestrians had the option of avoiding the stress and danger of walking on the paved (yellow) bike path by walking along the most westerly footpath (shown on my sketched map as the red path interrupted by the blue rectangle).  As described above, the most southerly portion of that path is now passable again and I will use it on my daily walks (as will many other pedestrians wishing to make proper use of the park).  

What still needs to be done is to clear the upper portion of the long established footpath (it shows clearly on 30-year-old aerial photographs).  I've shown it in red going all the way up to the footbridge to Woodroffe High School.  That section of path also suffered some minor treefall in a windstorm several months ago and has become heavily overgrown with weeds.  A properly equipped work crew could clear that path in an hour and make the park safe again for pedestrians.

As for what the NCC should do about the encroachment shown in the blue rectangle, I can only offer my professional opinion as a (retired) Canada Lands Surveyor.  I submit to you that by tolerating such egregious encroachment for 20 years onto such valuable land (in this neighbourhood, that mowed area is worth $1M), the NCC is signalling to every homeowner in Ottawa that borders on NCC land, that it's OK to cut down their chainlink fence and start occupying the land beyond it as they see fit.  That's not the message the NCC wants to go viral and without some sort of remedial action it most certainly will.

I personally would like to see the encroached land turned into a community garden (as it is zoned for in the City of Ottawa Master Plan).  Failing that, the area must return to proper use as public parkland.  To accomplish that, all of the encroaching parties must be served legal notice and instructed to cease and desist damaging the park's public use as a pedestrian footpath.   Please call me at your convenience, we need to talk soon about resolving this matter.

Yours truly

Peter Kielland
840 Connaught Ave
613-282-0688