Roadless Peninsula
A property located on the Peninsula of Maple Bay that is very special to all of us at element photography is at risk of being compromised due to development of a road that will make the area accessible bringing in hydro, developers, off roaders, etc into this piece of forest reserve. There has been very minimal public consultation and the municipal government is in a hurry to have the road laid. To stop this from happening 2150 voters in the North Cowichan Area must sign the documents below. The cut off time is DECEMEBER 14 2012 2pm. Read on for more information + share with as many people as possible. Thank you.
(blog post below from http://roadlesspeninsula.wordpress.com/)
Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money. ~Cree Indian Proverb
The Peninsula of Maple Bay is considered to be some of the most extraordinary land anywhere, so sacred and rare that last year private donations and funding from The Land Conservancy and CVRD made possible the creation of Sansum Point Park. Suddenly this largely public-owned land is at risk. A road has been approved that will bring hydro and developers into this wildnerness.
The voters of North Cowichan have less than 2 weeks to decide the outcome of a complicated issue. Put simply, there is a choice between two types of roads, one that will allow development, or a smaller road to serve as public access to what we believe should be mostly park land.
There are approximately 75 privately owned properties on the Peninsula. Of these, less than 15 are full-time residents. The residents use the forestry road as transportation. They believe, and we believe, that whatever happens to the road it must provide safe passage.
It will take time for the electorate to inform itself of all the details. It took a few billion years to create The Peninsula, we are asking for a few months to debate its’ demise. The Municipal Government is trying to race this “developer’s” road through with no public consultation. The voters need time. On November 27th Councilor Hartman proposed a motion that the deadline of December 14th be extended a month to allow the voters to be informed of all the issues. The motion was defeated. We want to know why the government is trying to race this road through with no public process?
If the voters of North Cowichan demand more time, it will then be possible to demand a public task force be created to conceive a long-term community plan for The Peninsula, including public access and thoughtful consideration for the preservation of this extraordinay land.
Presently the existing road is on forestry land. To build this “developer’s” road, North Cowichan will have to remove a significant portion from the forest reserve. To stop this from happening, 10% of North Cowichan electors, 2,150 voters, must sign an Elector Response Form. It must be submitted to the Municipality by 2 p.m. on December 14th, 2012. Forms can be downloaded off the Municipal websitewww.northcowichan.ca and in this blog under Petition. Also they are available at the Municipal Hall north of town, (7030 TransCanada Highway) and The Community Farm Store in the yellow Garage in Duncan where they can be signed and dropped off.
The Electoral Response Form process is cumbersome and flawed. It’s difficult for people to pick up forms. At this point there is no way around it, forms must be signed but a petition should also be valid.
IF ENOUGH NORTH COWICHAN VOTERS SIGN THE PETITION BELOW, WE HOPE THAT COUNCILOR HARTMANN WILL BE ABLE TO USE THIS PUBLIC SUPPORT TO PROPOSE AN AMENDED MOTION THAT THE DEADLINE for Electoral Forms be EXTENDED 2 MONTHS OR LONGER.
PLEASE SIGN THE FORM AND THE PETITION BELOW. The petition will take a few minutes and is sent directly to the Mayor and Council.
FOR ELECTORAL RESPONSE FORMS, CLICK HERE (electoral response form) - Open and print the petition form. Please read carefully. Must be signed and handed in to the Municipal Hall or to the Community Farm Store across from the train station in Duncan.
FOR PETITION: CLICK HERE (https://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/north-cowichan-mayor-and-council-save-the-maple-bay-peninsula-from-development)
PETITION DOES NOT TAKE THE PLACE OF ELECTORAL RESPONSE FORM