*Ftweeeeeet!*
Right, then. Anyone who has ever paddled in Cadboro Bay, listen up!
The Cadboro Bay Residents' Association has announced that there will be an Open House on Wednesday, March 2, 2011 from 5:00pm to 8:00p, at the Gymnasium of Frank Hobbs Elementary School, 3875 Haro Road.
There will be a display of the proposed Master Plan that Saanich Municipality is developing, for changing Gyro Park over the next twenty years. There will be two brief presentations at 5:30 and 7:00 pm.
If you use Gyro Park at all, you will be interested in looking at the proposed Master Plan. You don't have to stay for the whole time -- just come and fill out a comments form.
If you can't fit visiting this Open House into your busy schedule, there are a couple of options for you. First, read about the proposed Master Plan on Saanich's website. Some of the proposed changes are good. Others are less good.
Second, go to Saanich's feedback form and make some comments. This is a good way to give Saanich more information about how people are using Gyro Park and Cadboro Bay! And it gets results. Already, the Master Plan has been changed to include an access trail to allow boat users to bring small boats to the boat launch ramp -- a trail that will allow access by emergency vehicles as well. This access trail was NOT part of the proposed Master Plan until kayakers and sailboat users pointed out their need for access.
At a time when demonstrations are being done by people looking for a greater say in the workings of their governments, this Open House is a small but definitely positive opportunity to participate in our local municipal government. This is what democracy looks like! Sometimes political activisim is not a thousand people chanting, it's fifty people every half hour, filing through a school gymnasium and filling out a feedback form before going home to make dinner half-an-hour later than usual.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wow. Well, at first glance the plan seems to be fantastic - better utilization of space, reduction of flooding, more access to better services. A circular road would certainly be nicer for traffic. I just don't know how it will be cadboro bay with the creatures moved, very strange. (I had a mini panic attack until I found the relocated Cadborosaurus!) What do you guys think, will this be generally a positive change? Certainly that path you mention looks great, it's basically where that walking path you dragged the boats along was anyways.
ReplyDeleteWell, the path for boat access and emergency access to the shore does look great. But the existing washrooms and Scout House would be torn down. The washrooms are in a small building solidly built of concrete blocks -- the building will need a new roof in twenty years, but apart from that should stand for fifty years or until rising sea levels undermine the concrete pad under the building.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of the tennis courts being removed and replaced with parking.
I like the idea of "vegetated swales" to be low places where water will collect. But digging up a copse of trees to put in a marsh makes less sense.
Basically, the current Master Plan shows a lot of expensive earth-moving projects planned for a salt marsh that's barely above the high tide line. Few of these projects make as much sense as we need from our planning department.
We're going to the Open House tonight. Did you fill out the online comment form yet, people?