Directors not listening
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Dear editor,
I’d like to make clear the misconception that is being sent forth to the readers of the North Island Gazette.
As a resident of Malcolm Island and a member on the late Solid Waste Management Committee for Malcolm Island, I found the meetings very biased. Information during the open house and survey, were questionable, misleading and confusing to the public.
The people of the island are very much on board with closing our present dump, and finding the right solution to our garbage. It’s the location of the transfer site that is the main issue. Bere Road site has many negative reasons for being the chosen site.
We have three of our public water wells in the vicinity. This land is a swamp and had water running in the driest summer. This site will take a lot of money to develop, which could be spent elsewhere. This is a very green space for wildlife and the access road is very narrow and dangerous.
Chair Al Huddlestan said the regional district wants to leave as small a footprint as possible.
The alternate site suggested by the community again at a later meeting is a site known as Pole 19, not the Gun Club as stated to the public. Pole 19 is a dry, dead zone and there are positive reasons why our transfer station should be there. It would have very little impact on the environment and leave a smaller footprint.
The bylaw given preliminary approval by the regional board is not the fight, because it will not change the site. The regional board is the only one who can change the site.
Huddlestan said the board will take the direction from the community. However, at the public meeting held in Sointula, it was clear that the majority attending does not want Bere Road as the transfer site. But the original committee, the regional directors are not listening either.
In my opinion, our regional board is a small version of our B.C. Liberal government, where common sense is only found in the dictionary.
Heather Orr Lansdowne
Sointula
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