Do not change local area plan
Do not change the award winning Bell McKinnon Local Area Plan!
Why would tax payers agree to effectively flush hundreds of thousands of dollars down the toilet? This what councillors Marsh, Justice and Douglas are trying to achieve by omitting the current plan and starting over.
The Bell McKinnon LAP was developed with input from North Cowichan staff, residents, business owners, landowners and First Nations. The plan received the Gold Award in Policy Planning at the Land Summit meeting in Vancouver in 2019. The plan was recognized for being a “model green growth centre that is vibrant and a walkable urban village”. There are applications currently sitting dormant at the municipality that would responsibly build multifamily homes with park area and walking trails just as the plan required. These councillors are arbitrarily trying to cancel the plan and start over.
We are currently in a housing crisis and building a billion dollar hospital, a new RCMP detachment, a new high school and Crofton Ferry Terminal expansion. How is limiting growth and requiring newcomers and our local families seeking housing, to drive from places like Langford and Victoria green? A representative from Vancouver Island Health Authority stated their concerns at a recent council meeting that they already have lost doctors because they cannot find homes in the area. How do we intend to house the 700-plus hospital staff including doctors and nurses and the several hundred people it will take to build the hospital when we cannot even house our current families?
Please fill out the OCP survey before Dec. 8 (found on North Cowichan website) or email the aforementioned North Cowichan councillors.
Elaine Lichtenwald
Duncan