Haro Woods site best for sewage plant: report
Email
Print
Letter to Editor
Share
Updated: July 26, 2009 2:28 PM
A section of the Haro Woods is the best of three options for a sewage treatment plant in Saanich East or Oak Bay, according to a consultant’s report.
The report, which landed before the Capital Regional District’s core-area liquid waste management committee last Wednesday, compared the sites on economic, environmental and social criteria.
The CRD-owned property in the Haro Woods, at the corner of Finnerty and Arbutus roads in Saanich, scored highest on economic values, but had the lowest environmental score, said Westland Resource Group’s David Harper, who prepared the report.
But the lower financial costs were enough to push the Finnerty-Arbutus site more than 100 points ahead of the other options, both on lands owned by the University of Victoria. They include a site near UVic sports fields on McKenzie Road and in open fields in North Oak Bay near Cedar Hill X Road.
The financial costs associated with the Haro Woods option would be $650,000 less than the sports fields site, and $1.1 million less than the Oak Bay site, both of which would require new pipes to be installed.
The sports field site scored lowest on social factors, largely due to its 18-metre minimum distance from neighbouring houses.
The Cedar Hill X Road site was highest for social factors, due to its distance from neighbours and visual screening.
The two UVic sites were roughly tied on environmental considerations.
Saanich Coun. Vic Derman was one of two committee members, along with View Royal mayor Graham Hill, who questioned the relative weight given to economic factors.
“I find this a flawed approach to the ‘triple-bottom line’ (analysis),” said Derman.
The report also considered whether to look more closely at 16 alternatives identified by the public during workshops in Saanich and Oak Bay.
While most of those had already been considered and rejected, the report endorsed examining a Saanich-owned piece of the Haro Woods, which was originally bought as a possible sewage treatment site and has already been partially cleared.
kvass@vicnews.com
v2
