PENINSULA Library system looks to levy
Sidney North Saanich branch of VIRL can expand only through a regional tax, page 4 Black Press C O M M U N I T Y
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NEWS REVIEW
Food bank is busy
The Sidney Lions Food Bank is getting ready for a busy holiday season of hampers, page 5
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Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Park plan faces protest
Mistrust brewing between residents and CRD over Island View Park document Tim Collins
ests of park users. At the heart of the decades-long conflict is the question of what ideal of the propA new course for Island View erty’s past is the appropriate temBeach Regional Park will soon be plate for the future. “We just want them to leave our charted amidst a storm of conflicting opinions and brewing mis- park alone,” said Jason Austin, the founder of a loose organization trust. At issue is a document enti- of area residents and concerned tled the Draft Interim Park Man- park users. His organizaagement Plan tion, The Friends for Island View of Island View Beach Regional Beach, has been Park. The plan actively lobbying was prepared by for the park to be Capital Regional maintained in the District (CRD) state in which the staff and is slated CRD found it. for presentation Austin mainto the Regional tains the area has Parks Commitbeen grassland tee. The CRD and meadows – is still deciding agricultural land whether the plan – for generations. will be presented His group argues on Nov. 20 or at a date yet to be Tim Collins/Contributor that the CRD’s determined. This Vernon Michell of Michell vision of the park course of action is Farms says a mosquito as a wetland is an being maintained p l a g u e o c c u r r e d artificial construct despite continued when ditches weren’t and the result of the CRD’s environprotests from crit- maintained. mentalist agenda. ics of the plan and the launching of a website that They say it’s an agenda brought to severely criticizes virtually every life by the CRD’s intentional failure to maintain century old drainage aspect of the document. If passed at the committee level ditches and berms and by allowthe document will go to the CRD ing the flapper gates that prevent board where, if ratified, it will seawater from running backward become the governing document up the ditches at high tide to fall into disrepair. for the park. “Look at the original 1858 surCritics of the plan say it will enshrine a legacy of distrust, vey documents for this land,” said anger and frustration between the Austin. CRD and stakeholders by mapPlease see: ping a future not in the best interCRD saw park, page 3
Contributor
Steven Heywood/News staff
Hellson sneaks around the corn field at North Saanich’s Evil Acres haunted barn. The Halloween experience ends Thursday night. See page 8 for more Halloween events.
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