Editor:
It is deeply concerning that there are in fact not just one but two large land clearing operations under way for residential developments on Redrooffs with a third recently proposed for Truman Road. In total these three sites add up to well over 100 acres of extensive deforestation and road building on hills located above existing homes and roads already compromised by periodic flooding.
Our Official Community Plan calls on governments to ensure that the cumulative environmental impacts of new developments are assessed before they are approved. However, in recent Halfmoon Bay citizens forums, both Regional District director Lori Pratt and MLA Nicholas Simons informed us that they are unaware of any such assessments being conducted. They also indicated that this is a “weakness” of the current development approval process.
At Bayview Hills, where logging and lot sales appear to be thundering along, a beautiful waterway called Kitchin Creek runs alongside and through the site. The developer has cut trees and brush right to the creek’s edge in one location. His website shows a vision of large single homes surrounded by lawns and the occasional tree.
Our province has just experienced an unprecedented year of forest fires, heat and massive flooding. Surely now is the time to halt any further approvals for these types of developments until they undergo comprehensive environmental and social impact assessments. It is frighteningly short-sighted to view remaining forests in our rural areas as perfect locations for the next “British Properties” or “Arbutus Ridge,” without first considering their cumulative impacts on the environment, the surrounding community and wildlife.
Ellen Adelberg, Halfmoon Bay
