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David Docksteader, AMP
June 24, 2015
Inside Information on the move The Lake Country District and Chamber of Commerce mobile tourist info booth was in action over the weekend. ...............................
TRAVIS EWING, 9, prepares to feed some goats at the Kangaroo Creek Farm last week in Lake Country. Ewing was at the farm as part of a school field trip from Salmon Arm, one of about 1,000 visitors to the farm each day. His mother, Sandie Ewing, said it is a great place for school kids to come. “I think it’s awesome,” she said. “It’s a wonderful experience for the kids. It opens their eyes to a whole bunch of new stuff.” Kangaroo Creek is planning a large expansion this summer but must find more parking spaces for its customers.
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Growing like the weed it is Eurasian milfoil is growing at such an unprecedented pace efforts to keep it cut back are tested to the limit. ...............................
KEVIN PARNELL/
LAKE COUNTRY CALENDAR
6 ▼ BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Flyers ■ Home Depot ■ Hometown ■ Jysk ■ Rona ■ Safeway ■ Save On Foods ■ Shoppers Drug Mart ■ Staples
Success breeds growth problems for Kangaroo Farm KEVIN PARNELL Since opening its doors to the public in 2012, Kangaroo Creek Farm has been a huge success, bringing thousands of visitors to Lake Country with a unique business model that asks only for donations from its customers. Owner Caroline MacPherson says visitors to the farm have increased from 30,000 in its first year to what is expected to be 100,000 this year, which is likely to see Kangaroo Creek triple in size with a planned expansion. But with growth comes issues and the farm is
starting to run into some problems due to the increase in visitors, combined with what the District of Lake Country sees as parking issues on Main Street, where visitors park to make the trek down to the farm to view and feed kangaroos, peacocks, parrots and a wide variety of other animals. The issue of parking arose at Lake Country council last week as MacPherson appeared to ask for a permit to expand her operations to a neighbouring property that will take Kangaroo Creek Farm from its current 3.5 acres to close to 10 acres in total. But the District of Lake Country is asking MacPherson to come up with 28 parking stalls to help al-
leviate congestion on Main Street and options for parking in the area are limited. “From a planning perspective it has been found that the Kangaroo Farm is such a draw to the community that parking can now become in short supply on Main Street during the busy tourism season and during the Farm’s operating hours,” wrote planner Paul Dupuis. “The site provides limited parking opportunities. This (means) that visitors are either parking on Main Street and in some cases may be using the adjacent parking lot of commercial busi-
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