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Gleneagles driving range mulled Addition considered to lure young golfers to public course
BRENT RICHTER brichter@nsews.com
The District of West Vancouver is teeing up a plan to possibly build a driving range at Gleneagles Golf Course.
The idea is only in the conceptual phase but staff are starting to talk to members about realigning holes one and two to include a training area where golfers can drive balls and practice their short game with a green
and bunker, according to Dan Henegar, the manager of parks, arboriculture and horticulture. “We’ve been approached by a group of resident golfers with the idea of building a driving range at Gleneagles. We’ve had a few discussions. We’re trying to establish if it’s even feasible, if we have enough space,” Henegar said. “At this moment, it’s
just talk.” If there is enough interest to move forward, staff will come up with a draft design and approximate cost. At that point, the district will host a series of open houses and follow up with a survey. “Based on what kind of responses we get from those surveys, we’ll decide whether to ask council for any funding or not. It’s
always going to be council’s decision whether the project goes forward or not,” Henegar said. Partly motivating the change is the hope a driving range will draw in more young people, a demographic that is increasingly staying away from the links and putting the future of the sport in question, Henegar said.
“The golf industry is not doing very well at the moment and what we recognize is the fact that youth are not participating as much as we want them to,” he said. “We’re not losing money but we’re surviving, basically.We’re breaking even.” The publicly owned See Changes page 9
West Van renters face cost crunch JEREMY SHEPHERD jshepherd@nsnews.com
Nearly one third of West Vancouver renters spend half their income keeping a roof over their heads, according to a recent report from the B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association. That report underlines a crisis-level affordability crunch faced by renters across the province, according to the housing association. “There’s just no escaping it on the North Shore,” said Harvest Project development officer Kevin Lee. Lee said he’s noted an increasing number of clients coping with exorbitant rents while working with the charity. Most of West Vancouver’s 3,580 renters put more than 30 per cent of their earnings toward rent, which is $1,555 on average. For 31 per cent of West Vancouver renters, more than half of every paycheque is needed to pay the rent. While the numbers are most startling in West Vancouver, the problem isn’t limited to one municipality, noted Lee. Approximately 43 per cent of the City of North Vancouver’s 10,315 renters fork over more than 30 per cent of their earnings to the landlord each month. That figure is nearly identical in the See Lack page 9
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