Dear editor,

I’ve followed the Dyke Road gas station debate for a long time now with a certain appalled fascination.

Do we really think we need another gas station? There are so many choices of gas stations already within a few kilometres from the proposed Gas and Go site on the estuary, and the only times I see lineups are when the price of gas is about to leap upwards.

By my calculations, before running out of gas on the Dyke Road we could easily fill our tanks at any of the following:

• Shell Gas Station (in Comox), two kilometres from future Gas and Go site;

• Petro Canada and Safeway gas stations (at 17th Street Bridge), 2.1 km from future Gas and Go site;

• Payless, Chevron and Superstore gas stations (on Ryan Road), 3.5 km from future Gas and Go site.

• Not to mention the Husky and Shell on Headquarters Road and the Co-op, Chevron and Husky stations in Comox.

The Gas and Go apparently plans to bless us with additional amenities.

I have noticed, however, that all five of the gas stations in Comox and nine of the 10 stations in Courtenay also have convenience stores, we have liquor stores and beer and wine stores in both Comox and Courtenay, and we already have an abundance of both adequate and incredibly good restaurants in the area to suit everyone’s budgets and tastes.

Possibly we could survive without another one, especially in an awkwardly accessible location whose prime asset is its wildlife habitat and natural beauty.

I have left and returned to the Valley several times in the past 38 years.

One Dyke Road image that kept my heart attached to this place occurred while we were departing to work in Alberta one winter’s morning 25 years ago: as we passed what is now the proposed Gas and Go site, ethereal swans and snow-covered sandbars floated into view, vanished, and reappeared in the mist.

We pulled quietly onto the shoulder and sat wonderstruck. Just one magical moment of many on that road.

The estuary is a unique and precious gem to be cherished and passed to future generations. Another gas station as an inheritance? Maybe not so unique or precious.

So remind me — why exactly would our local government issue a permit for the Gas and Go? And why would it allow any gas station on the Courtenay estuary?

Margaret White,

Comox