FRIDAY MAR 24, 2016 VOL. 43, NO. 11
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Home improvement
Rod Marsh on simple solutions to more efficient home heating
Car2Go
Company responds to Horseshoe Bay car-sharing users
Terminal Creek Hatchery
Tour sheds light on its reason for being
New data to impact planning for Bowen’s housing needs MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
Renters Qurban, Santosha, Erin and Ella Rose have found a place to live for another year, but they worry they’ll have to move again in a year’s time. Meribeth Deen, photo
Erin Naismith, her husband Qurban, her daughters and her father have found a new home, but their sense of instability on Bowen Island remains as they know they will face uncertainty again in a year’s time. They also know, that they are not the only family feeling this way. “It’s horrible,” says Erin. “There is so little available to rent, when you go to check out a place you feel like you have to compete with other families for a place to live. I really didn’t have that sense of Bowen five years ago when we moved here. And then you look around and see all of these empty houses, it is really frustrating.” Recently released statistics show that while Bowen’s population has grown 8.2% since 2011, the number of “private dwellings not occupied by usual residents” (otherwise known as second homes or vacation properties) has increased by five since 2011, and by 75 since 2001. Municipal Councillor Maureen Nicholson clarifies that the number of second homes has in fact remained steady in relation to the size of Bowen’s population, a fact she says she finds surprising. Also, the rate of home building on Bowen has remained steady since 2001. Nicholson presented these statistics, and
others that have been released by Statistics Canada’s at a recent Economic Development Committee (EDC) meeting. She says that Statistics Canada will continue to release census data in the coming months that will fill in the gaps on how people are living and traveling on Bowen, and all of it will serve to help the municipality make better planning decisions. “I think what’s happened on Bowen over the past few years is that people who have bought homes are actually living in them, instead of renting them out,” says Nicholson. “But information we get in the next few months will confirm whether or not that theory is correct. Also, we are looking forward to knowing how many permanent residents are renters.” Robyn Fenton, who heading up the newly formed Bowen Housing Network, says the lesson she takes away from the census data is that Bowen, like the rest of the lower mainland, is reaching a “pinch point,” and planners need to be looking at innovative solutions as opposed to relying on the creation of more single-family homes to cover a community’s housing needs. “I think maybe part of why we have reached this point of crisis is a lack of data,” says Fenton. “More census data will be great, but we also need more data about what people want and need instead of what simply exists right now.”
Fare prices remain stable for Horseshoe Bay - Snug Cove for another year MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
Vehicle fares on three BC Ferries routes will increase by 1.9% starting in April, but fares for route 8, Horseshoe Bay to Snug Cove, will stay the same alongside fares on all the other minor, northern and Horseshoe Bay sailings. “We’ve heard fair affordability loud and clear from customers,” says media relations manager Deborah Marshall. “I know that our pricing team is concerned about covering the costs of new vessels and capital replacement projects, but it seems that we can meet those needs while keeping prices stable on a number of routes.” Marshall adds that in 2016, ferry commissioner Gord
Macatee approved an annual fare increase of 1.9% for all routes. Susanna Braund, chair of Bowen Island’s Ferry Advisory Committee (FAC), says that this decision is definitely something to be happy about. “It is worth noting, that the way that BC Ferries makes its decisions on fares is complex,” says Braund. “The size of the province’s contribution to BC Ferries is a factor - and we know that fare-box revenue covers 101% of their operating costs, whereas with fare revenues from TransLink cover 40% of their operations.” Braund adds that another complicating factor is the price of fuel, which fluctuates constantly. “To deal with that, they use a fuel deferral account, where they park money when fuel costs less than the predetermined set price per litre and from which they draw when it costs
more,” she says. “This fund is the source of fuel rebates; it is also where fuel surcharges go. Currently the fuel rebate stands at 2.9%. Look at your ferry ticket and you will see this broken down.” Braund adds that BC Ferries has used money from the fuel deferral account to hold fare-prices steady last year so that there appeared to be a fare-freeze. This year, she says, “there really is a fare freeze,” but fuel prices look to be increasing. This could mean the fuel rebate you see on your ticket disappears, and when that happens it will feel like a fare increase. Next week, Bowen’s FAC is expected to release an in-depth voter fact-sheet on ferries with more details on how fares have risen in relation to the Consumer Price Index since 2003.