TUESDAY MARCH 20, 2012
www.pqbnews.com
BRANT FESTIVAL
LOCAL BOY
VIU women’s volleyball coach is a local high school grad — and gold medal winner
The Nature Trust seeks more community support
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QUALICUM BEACH
Arts site sits empty Land bought for arts and culture facility is in question STEVEN HEYWOOD editor@pqbnews.com
A debate is brewing on what, exactly, the Town of Qualicum Beach is going to do with the former school bus garage, now sitting empty in the downtown. The town bought the property from School District 69 (Qualicum) for $1.5 million in August, 2011 — funded through the town’s reserve accounts and by selling off some other properties it wasn’t using. The town had hoped to pay much less — $800,000 — for the land, as part of a land swap deal with the school district. Instead, the school district chose a site in Errington to relocate their bus facility. According to mayor Teunis TEUNIS WESTBROEK Westbroek, that left the town’s hands tied: let the property be sold off to a developer, or buy it and another piece of land that the school district had suddenly bundled into the package. He said the council of the day knew there was more value in the land as a public amenity, so they found a way to pay for it. Now, a new council and a new study on the site is bringing its usefulness as a public space into question. But the mayor feels, even if the town doesn’t ever recoup its costs, the property will benefit citizens well into the future. See LAND COST, page A7
Picketers want more care
Crowd of close to 100 people rally for 24-hour service here AUREN RUVINSKY
Qualicum MLA Ron Cantelon’s office, had said they’d be happy with 30 people and they got at least three times that. Organizers were pleased with the turnout at a March Cantelon attended the unstructured rally and attempted to 16 rally calling for more services in the answer questions and comments ranAdd your COMMENTS at health centre currently being built in domly yelled from the crowd. www.pqbnews.com Parksville. The main thrust of the crowd was Rick Sullivan of the Oceanside Coalition for Strong Com- that they want the services as detailed in a 2001 report. munities, which organized the event in front of Parksville- See CLINIC NOT ENOUGH, page A6 writer@pqbnews.com
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AUREN RUVINSKY PHOTO
Parksville-Qualicum MLA Ron Cantelon speaks on Friday to a crowd of people who are opposed to the current plans for the new Oceanside Health Centre, under construction in Parksville.