Since the 1980s, property owners have laid gravel on the ocean floor to create a 28-metre roadway connecting Secret Cove to Turnagain Island at low tide. This will likely change after Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) electoral area directors voted to recommend refusal of the roadway to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development
Turnagain Island property owners applied for a licence of occupation from the ministry, which would allow them to maintain the road. Staff did not support the application on environmental grounds, highlighting the potential negative impact on the intertidal ecosystem and specifically on a nearby eelgrass bed. An archeological area is also located within the application area and climate change poses a risk, said staff, since the area will become increasingly vulnerable to storm surges.
“There are many strikes against this application in my books,” said Mark Lebbell, director for Roberts Creek.
Garry Nohr, director for Halfmoon Bay, where Turnagain Island is located, was the sole supporter of the roadway at the March 8 committee meeting. He said the road isn’t driven on a daily basis and that the amount of gravel used is minimal.
“It’s a trail with just two paths on it. The gravel is really the width of a tire, not across like a road,” Nohr said. “You’ve got somebody who’s looking after it for 40 years effectively and not causing any trouble until they came to renew and suddenly we close down on them.”
Keith Julius, director for shíshálh Nation, did not have a vote but said he did not support the application.
According to the Islands Trust policy, islands cannot be connected to the mainland by a bridge or tunnel. There are at least two properties on the 92-acre island. Directors recommended the applicants work with the Islands Trust to assess other access options. The application will also be sent to shíshálh Nation. Comments by the Halfmoon Bay Advisory Planning Commission will be forwarded to the ministry.
