In a two-year long struggle to keep their rural traditional elementary school open the residents of Cowichan Station came to know one another well.

They lost their fight and the school is now closed but the co-operation welded the community into a political force determined to maintain their rural lifestyle while building a self-contained, self-sustaining 21st century village.

Their school building has not been forgotten. Members of the Cowichan Station Area Association want the school to form the focus around which to construct their future village. They are pushing regional director Loren Duncan to arrange some kind of tenure with the province giving them control of the historic building.

The residents have already designed signage to inform and direct the world to their community-in-the-making. They are working with B.C. Transit designing routes for local transportation and making connections with other Cowichan Valley buses as well as the over-the-Malahat service to Victoria.

Last week at the regular CSAA meeting they solicited everyone’s views for saving and reclaiming the natural environment that creates the community’s very special ambiance.

It was no surprise that heading the list is planning protection and management of the Koksilah River watershed by planting trees and other vegetation to protect banks, establishing buffer zones, wildlife corridors, waterfowl refuges, and planning infrastructure to protect against flooding.

They repeatedly demanded that no more land be removed from the Agricultural Land Reserve. At the same time they want to assess the damage to the Koklilah River system from farming practices such as pesticide runoff. The residents want no more herbicides used on the E&N railway right-of-way.

They will monitor logging practices and ensure logged off areas are replanted immediately. All economic activities must be done with environmental sensitivity. Increased membership in the stream-keepers course can provide community-wide participation in monitoring of the environment.

In the central village area the old school can provide space for child care, perhaps a library, workshops, and an interpretive centre. Surrounding the school they foresee a local farmers market, a cottage industry of light manufacturing, village retail shops and community allotment gardens.

They want their community well-connected with parks, trails, and walking paths.

CASS members are not asking, but demanding that they be a constant part of the planning process for Cowichan Station.

They know all too well that they do not have all the answers but they now have the organization and the determination to find the solutions suited to their village-in-the-making — a community for the 21st century.

Response from the right

I applaud communities coming together and charting the course they want to follow. More power to them, and I hope they can find the financial wherewithal to make their dreams come together. I’ve always said people can everything they want — as long as they are willing to pay for it.

— Patrick Hrushowy. Read Hrushowy’s From the right Saturdays in the News Leader Pictorial.