GOLDSTREAM
NEWS GAZETTE
FEEDING THE HUNGRY
SHARING THE JOURNEY
Mall gets in food fight
Cultural learning
Westshore Town Centre joins shopping centres across Canada to campaign for food banks. Page A6
Social workers from across B.C. come to Langford to learn about working with aboriginal kids. Page A3
Spring 2013 slated for opening of Leigh Road Interchange Kyle Wells News staff
Charla Huber News staff
Langford gets in line on backyard hens After knocking on hundreds of doors and collecting more than 500 signatures, Werner and Karen Grundlingh can keep their chickens in their Langford backyard. The friendly fowl were never a problem for the couple, until one day when they received a knock at the door. It was a Langford bylaw officer informing them they were not allowed to have chickens. They were told the hens needed to be removed by July 15. Langford only allows hens on residential properties that are more than one acre (4,046 square meters). For those with large enough lots, the current bylaw allows one hen for every 166
Problem.
Kumon Centre of Langford-Westshore 250.474.4175 800-ABC-MATH www.kumon.ca
End in sight for bridge to nowhere
Karen and Werner Grundlingh received more than 500 signatures on a petition to allow all lot sizes to have backyard chickens. Langford city staff is currently rewriting the bylaw to allow Langford residents with less than one acre properties to have backyard chickens.
News staff
Give your children the tools to write their own success stories.
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Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Charla Huber
Math. Reading. Success
Backyard chickens allowed â– Metchosin â– View Royal â– Esquimalt â– Oak Bay
â– Saanich â– Victoria â– Highlands
square metres. The Grundlingh’s lot size is 890 square metres and they have two hens. They have cared for hens for two years now and say they didn’t even know about the bylaw. After getting the notice in April they knocked on hundreds of doors throughout Langford seeking support. “Most people we talked to were surprised that you couldn’t have chickens,� said Karen Grundlingh.
On June 18, the Grundlinghs presented their case to Langford council. Many of the couple’s neighbours attended in support. After the presentation, council passed a resolution for staff to rewrite the bylaw to allow backyard chickens on smaller lots. “With the 100 Mile Diet, more and more people are interested in this,� said acting mayor Denise Blackwell, who has been on council since Langford incorporated two decades ago. Blackwell told the couple the deadline has been lifted and the hens can stay while the bylaw is rewritten. The current bylaw was written in 1967 by the Capital Regional District, which enforced regulations in the area at that time. charla@goldstreamgazette.com
Solution.
Officially it’s the Leigh Road Interchange but to many people in Greater Victoria it’s better known as the “bridge to nowhere.� But the creatively financed overpass is now scheduled to be com“It’s plete and opened in late Spring 2013. not very Work on Leigh often where Road up to the bridge deck and (the city) onramp finished builds a full in May. The follow up phase, which interchange includes on ramps like that.� and off ramps, is – Michelle going to tender Mahovlich mid-July. Once complete the interchange will be ready for traffic. “It’s pretty exciting actually,� Langford director of engineering Michelle Mahovlich said. “It’ll be neat to see it opened. From a traffic perspective it’ll certainly help. It’s a pretty big project for the city to undertake. It’s not very often where you build a full interchange like that.� The overpass stretching over the Trans-Canada Highway was completed in the summer of 2009 but has sat idle since -- hence the “bridge to nowhere.� PLEASE SEE: Bridge to nowhere, Page A14
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