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Changes urged for Gospel Rock plan

Gibsons
Pratt signs
Signs have appeared on Pratt Road opposing its use as the main access road for the first phase of the Gospel Rock Village development in Gibsons.

The Elphinstone Advisory Planning Commission (APC) and the Elphinstone Electors Community Association are urging the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) to strengthen its recommendations on the proposed Gospel Rock Village development in neighbouring Gibsons.

Both groups, which held back-to-back meetings at Frank West Hall on Sept. 13, have status as referral agencies for the SCRD’s input into the proposed development.

The Gospel Rock Neighbourhood Plan calls for the use of an extension of Shaw and Inglis roads, within the Gibsons boundaries, as the main access route – but only after the first 250 units are built. 

The 75 or so people at the community association meeting heard a variety of concerns about the Gospel Rock proposal, including how water supply would be handled and how emergency responders would get to the new neighbourhood, but most of the concerns were around the potential for increased traffic on Pratt Road.

If the development goes ahead as proposed, Pratt, via Chaster and Rosamund roads, would be the main way in and out.

Association vice-president Vel Anderson said there are plenty of better alternatives that should be explored by Gibsons, the developer and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.

Lorne Lewis, Elphinstone’s director at the SCRD, said using Pratt would not only increase traffic and cause a possible bottleneck at the intersection with Highway 101, it would increase the neighbourhood’s carbon footprint because drivers would have to go west to Pratt, then loop back to get into Gibsons or beyond.

“Look at how many people work east of that intersection – the ferry terminal, Hillside Industrial Park, Twin Creeks Industrial Park, Port Mellon [Howe Sound Pulp and Paper],” said Lewis. “Anybody coming from that development to go to those places is going to put on all those extra kilometres.”

Pratt Road resident Susan Rule has launched a petition calling for the Shaw/Inglis access to be completed before building homes. She told the meeting her original list of 10 reasons not to rely on Pratt has now grown to 12. They include the need for two emergency access routes, the safety risk to children who use Pratt to walk to school, pollution and the impact on what is one of the Sunshine Coast’s major food-producing areas.

“It’s not ethical to dump, or download, all the Town [of Gibsons’] development traffic on our main road,” she said.

The SCRD has already passed a motion recommending Gibsons “take steps to plan and develop the Shaw/Inglis Road route from the outset of building instead of waiting for the project to hit the 250-unit threshold” and draft a new traffic impact study.

The APC voted to endorse changing the wording to “prior to the issuance of any building permits,” saying if work began before the Shaw/Inglis Road access was built, it would be a detriment to the community. The community association voted that the Shaw/Inglis Road access “or other routes within the Town of Gibsons” be constructed “before development permits are issued.”

Association secretary Clint Budd put forward the motion and said it was designed to put a little pressure on Gibsons, through the SCRD. “They [the Town of Gibsons] don’t have to listen to us, but they have to listen to the SCRD… We have to put the sharp point where we have some leverage, and we have leverage with the people we elect, and we have leverage with the rest of the [SCRD] board if we make enough noise. This motion is the start of making enough noise.” 

Lewis also raised the possibility of approaching the Gospel Rock developers for community amenity contributions that could be used for safety improvements on Pratt Road.

“If they are going to impact us, the way that they plan to impact us, then they should be giving a contribution of some kind,” he said. “But in my view of how the world works, they should not be impacting us any more than they can help, and they should be building that road north – period.”